![]() ![]() It survived the guillotine by rebranding-its caretakers and gardeners saw the writing on the wall for such a superfluous collection amidst political upheaval and anti-aristocratic sentiment. Originally a royal institution, the Jardin du Roi was a repository for the eclectic collection of specimens from around the world given to the king as baubles. Spary details how the Museum was central to the project of nation-building during the French Revolution. In her splendid book on the subject Utopia’s Garden: French Natural History from Old Regime to Revolution, E. History abounds with examples, like the famous Museum d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. And Nintendo figured out, intentionally or not, that a natural history museum-a place for flora and fauna to be collected, catalogued, and displayed-is a fast-track component of building a world, even a pastel-hued city state occupied by anthropomorphic animals. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH), players build a kind of pseudonation on a suspiciously deserted yet resource-rich island, writing an anthem (“town tune”), creating a town flag, raising and allocating funds for infrastructure improvements, and participating in traditional festivals. A large part of gameplay involves scouring the surrounding environment for insects, fish, and fossils which the player then donates to the museum via the curator, an owl named Blathers the more specimens donated, the larger the museum becomes, expanding into multiple rooms, exhibits organized by biomes and evolutionary timelines, and even a museum cafe in previous games. Originally released in Japan in 2001 (and in the US in 2003), there have been five main Animal Crossing games, with each installment enhancing the role of the museum as a space for players to display in-game collectibles. ![]() With so many people playing Animal Crossing and “visiting” virtual museum exhibits online while in quarantine, now is a key moment for thinking about nature’s presence in the virtual world and the museum’s intermediary role in representing it to millions through our screens. The immensely popular video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released on the Nintendo Switch on March 20 of this year, and its natural history museum, a mainstay of the series since the first game was released on the Gamecube in 2001 in Japan, has quickly recaptured players’s interests. The staff works 24/7 without a break, and new wings have been opened as collections grow with the generosity of its patrons. Thousands have visited its halls of natural history, which include fossilized remains, calming aquariums, and thrumming insect gardens to escape the isolation necessitated by current events. ![]() Despite a months-long global shutdown of nonessential entertainment and cultural institutions to prevent the worsening of the pandemic, one museum has been setting record attendance numbers week after week. ![]()
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