Museum of Personal Failure extends Vancouver run after 'overwhelming' response
A unique exhibition at Vancouver’s Kingsgate Mall has extended its run for another week after an outpouring of interest from local visitors and international followers.
The Museum of Personal Failure, a community art project showcasing artifacts of the contributors’ perceived failures, will remain open until Monday, Feb. 9.
According to a representative from the museum, the idea came to the creator and curator Eyvan Collins after he experienced a personal failure in his own life.
Daniel Chai/Daily Hive
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“The transition from the shame of feeling like a failure, to the shame of caring too much about that failure, and wanting to push it away — it’s a pretty common one for all people, though the isolating element of it obfuscates that point, I think,” said Max Collins, the museum’s director of communications, to Daily Hive.
Eyvan began working on the Museum of Personal Failure last summer, putting up posters around the city and posting an online callout for people to share their stories.
Submissions soon began to come in, and Eyvan found a home for the exhibition at Kingsgate Mall.
Daniel Chai/Daily Hive
“This exhibition started as a catharsis for our curator Eyvan; a way for him to examine his feelings of failure and to see if others had experienced similar feelings,” added Max. “The project is much bigger than Eyvan now.”
A recent visit to the Museum of Personal Failure showed it to be a busy attraction at the Mount Pleasant mall.
Artifacts on display range from unfinished art pieces to abandoned albums to rejection letters from jobs and past lovers.
There is a half-built bicycle, handwritten notes, and more pieces being added throughout the run.
Daniel Chai/Daily Hive
“The response has been, frankly, overwhelming,” explained Max. “Aside from the sheer number of people coming to visit, we have had so many people connecting with the production team and the contributors alike, sharing their own stories of failure.
“The concept has really struck a chord with people, it seems. Everybody has a story of when they felt like a failure, and to see the physical evidence of others’ failed attempts at things gives people the opportunity to reflect on their own failure and to look back on that time in their lives with more compassion.”
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Max added that submissions are still open and that the Museum of Personal Failure is looking for volunteers to help with teardown after the exhibition closes.
Museum of Personal Failure
When: Now until Monday, Feb. 9, 2026
Where: Kingsgate Mall — 370 E. Broadway, Vancouver
Admission: Free