BeSITka

Mapping and caring for cultural heritage in the form of Czech and Czechoslovak digital games is a vast task involving very different artifacts created over a period of more than forty years. This challenge cannot be managed under the umbrella of a single institution, nor does it make sense for it to be tackled solely by academics

and professional archivists. After all, games themselves are, by their very nature, part of participatory culture (Henry Jenkins), which has only been further deepened by the advent of online communication. Pixelarchiv.cz is based on the experience of foreign projects that programmatically involve community initiatives in museum and archival work and continuously communicate partial results with the gaming community (Helen Stuckey, Nick Richardson, Melanie Swalwell, Denise de Vries).

The most visible public manifestation of participatory archiving at pixelarchiv.cz are the open events called beSÍŤky, held annually on a Saturday in March at the Ponrepo cinema. Their aim is not only to discuss the results and tasks of pixelarchiv.cz, but mainly to connect academics from the field of game studies, media dealing with retrogaming, gaming history enthusiasts, and collectors. As the name suggests, the meeting takes place in a friendly atmosphere, where the main mission is constructive debate and networking.

If you are interested in the preservation and presentation of digital games, you are invited! Admission is and will be free.