Philippe Dubois advocates for a French national video game and computing museum
In a 2013 discussion with Dork Zabunyan for artpress2, Philippe Dubois, the president of mo5.com, expressed his support for establishing a national museum focused on video games and computing. Dubois began documenting digital memories in 1993 and created the first French-language virtual museum in 1996, which was later renamed mo5.com in 1998. A significant development took place in June 1996 when Alain Le Diberder from Canal Plus reached out to him regarding a virtual museum. With the assistance of Jean-Baptiste Clais in 2004, Dubois secured institutional backing. He stresses the critical need for preservation amid the fading of digital culture. Mo5.com, a non-profit with 400 members, has been involved in over 120 exhibitions and is seeking a physical venue for displays.
Key facts
- Philippe Dubois is president of mo5.com, a French association focused on video game and computing heritage.
- Dubois started documenting digital memory in 1993 as an engineering student.
- The first French-language virtual museum of digital heritage was launched in 1996, initially named Musée d'histoire naturelle informatique.
- Alain Le Diberder, director of programming at Canal Plus, contacted Dubois in June 1996 to create a virtual museum for the channel.
- Jean-Baptiste Clais, co-curator of Game Story at the Grand Palais, helped Dubois gain an institutional perspective in 2004.
- Mo5.com has participated in over 120 exhibitions, including Museogames (2010) and Game Story (2011).
- Nintendo discarded all its archives in 2004; Fujitsu had to buy back its vintage hardware from the US.
- A major Japanese arcade game collector has offered to bring his collection to France if a national museum is established.
- Mo5.com has 400 members and no subsidies; the municipality of Arcueil provides storage space.
- Dubois envisions the museum as a 'Cinémathèque of video games' with both permanent and temporary exhibitions.
Entities
Artists
- Philippe Dubois
- Dork Zabunyan
- Alain Le Diberder
- Jean-Baptiste Clais
Institutions
- mo5.com
- Canal Plus
- Grand Palais
- Conservatoire national des arts et métiers
- Réunion des musées nationaux
- Nintendo
- Fujitsu
- Sega
- CNRS
- Yahoo.com
- artpress2
- Games Com
- Japan Expo
- Festival du jeu vidéo
- Mairie d'Arcueil
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Montpellier
- Arcueil
- United States
- England
- Japan
- Europe
Sources
- artpress —