Final stretch at Wiki Loves Monuments
Martin Rulsch
22. March 2019
Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM) is a photo competition about architectural and cultural monuments organized by volunteers of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. The world’s largest photo competition (according to the Guinness Book of Records) takes place every year in September. By 25th September, more than 20,000 pictures had already been submitted in Germany by over 350 people, competing for the various prizes. Everyone can take part in this competition or simply discover Europe’s cultural heritage by downloading the images via Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects. Wikimedia Deutschland is especially pleased by the fact that almost half of the submitters are new to Wikimedia projects. We say thank you!
Now you can also join in at wmde.org/WLM18. A video created for the competition explains the most important background facts:
All photos of the competition are available free of charge under a free license on our media platform Wikimedia Commons. WLM thus makes an important contribution to cultural diversity in Europe. This year’s competition is part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage and for the first time also offers more extensive training for the Wikimedia projects’ volunteers. In the last article we had already introduced the youth photo workshop in addition to the special prizes. The photo workshop has been so successful that some of the attendees have registered directly for the next event:
Youth photo workshop: Admission of the Kurmainzischen Statthalterei Erfurt
During a weekend in Leipzig, a professional photographer, specialized in 360° photography, presented what technology is available and how it can be used. In addition to the logistical organization and financing of the event provided by Wikimedia Deutschland, attendees were also able to test the practical implementation in the ballroom of the Old Town Hall in Leipzig. Indoor photography is often not permitted in such spaces. In order to enable these parts of the monument to be documented, Wikimedia Deutschland has published an information brochure for cultural heritage institutions. The German Commission for UNESCO and the German National Committee for the Protection of Monuments also supported the creation of free content.
The brochure can be used immediately. It is included in the materials given to the 20 volunteers trained as Wikipedia cultural ambassadors this month. The training encompassed different perspectives on cooperations with cultural heritage institutions: Once again, the German Commission for UNESCO could be won as a partner organization and presented on the topic of humanity’s heritage. A citizens’ association in Kassel and an employee of the National Museums in Berlin talked about how their own cooperation succeed – this goes to show that Wikimedia Deutschland is part of a large network in the cultural landscape. Wikimedia Deutschland presented its volunteer support and projects with cultural institutions. Finally, a copyright expert explained how free licenses work when cooperating with cultural and memory institutions. Upon the completion of the training, the volunteers received a certificate of participation and are endorsed as cultural ambassador.
With the new knowledge, documents and official certificates, we look to the future with optimism that further opportunities will open up to advance Free Knowledge within society.
