Art World
French War Memorial Opts Out of Pokémon Go
Players would do well to remember to respect the dead.
The phenomena that is Pokémon Go continues, but not at a World War I memorial in northeast France. The Douaumont ossuary has been removed from the game, according to Agence France Presse.
The memorial honors those who lost their lives at one of the deadliest conflicts of the First World War: the Battle of Verdun. Some 300,000 French and German soldiers died on the field between February 21 and December 18, 1916, and the remains of 130,000 soldiers are at the ossuary.
The national cemetery also contains a 151-foot-tall tower designed by architects Léon Azéma, Max Edrei and Jacques Hardy, which features stained glass windows by George Desvallières and a two-ton bronze death-bell, called Bourdon de la Victoire.
In the original edition of Pokémon Go, the site contained both a Pokémon Gym, where players can do battle, and a Pokéstop, where they can collect Pokéballs and other objects to assist them in their quest to become a Pokémon Master. Niantic, which makes the game, has since removed both elements at the cemetery’s request.
A gamer uses the Pokemon Go application on his mobile in his car in Kuwait City on July 14, 2016. Courtesy of Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images.
Another gym at the nearby Verdun Memorial is still active, but spokesperson Emeline Villeseche told AFP it was not a problem because “we have no internet network here so the players cannot use it.”
It isn’t the first time Pokémon Go players have found themselves unwelcome: The game has also become a point of contention at the Holocaust Museum and Arlington National Cemetery, both in Washington, DC, and the 9/11 Memorial in New York. In their quest to catch ’em all, Pokémon Go players would do well to remember to respect the dead.
Follow Artnet News on Facebook:
Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Related Articles
-
