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THE CHALLENGES OF EXHIBITING VIDEO GAMES AT THE MUSEUM

Abstract

Curating video games in art museums presents a range of complex theoretical and practical challenges, necessitating a critical reassessment of established museological norms and practices. As both cultural artifacts and interactive experiences, video games are inherently participatory, technologically dependent, and susceptible to rapid obsolescence, which complicates the processes associated with their collection, preservation, and exhibition in ways that exceed the demands associated with traditional art objects.

Drawing a parallel between New Media Art and video games, this article focuses on the challenges of exhibiting digital and electronic works within the context of art museums. By examining the process of translating video games into artistic objects and the implications of their inclusion in museum settings, it invites a reflection on more specific issues, including the mediation of interactivity within institutional space; the construction of narratives that confer cultural value and stimulate critical engagement; the tension between material and immaterial components; the intersection of gaming culture and the white-cube gallery; and technological obsolescence, which threatens to render games unplayable within a few years, thereby jeopardizing their preservation as authentic cultural forms. This analysis is informed by perspectives from museum studies and curatorial theory.

By theorizing these issues, this exploratory article contends that video games should not be merely integrated into pre-existing curatorial frameworks. Rather, their exhibition demands the development of new curatorial models that address hybridity, interactivity, and technological ephemerality. Ultimately, this study contributes to broader debates surrounding digital culture, arguing that video games compel museums to reconsider both their curatorial practices and their foundational conceptual frameworks.