WIKI LOVES MONUMENTS: return to Lombardy and Lake Como

WIKI LOVES MONUMENTS: return to Lombardy and Lake Como.

Wiki Loves Monuments, the world's largest photography competition, returns to Lombardia and in particular on Lake Como, to contribute to the valorization of the Italian artistic heritage through its digitization. This is the objective of the twelfth edition in Italy of Wiki Loves Monuments, the biggest photographic competition of the world organized by Wikipedia, which involves professional and amateur photographers to document Italian monuments on Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia and sister projects.

This year the protagonists of the competition will be the religious buildings, whose photos will enrich the online encyclopedia and encourage the diffusion of Italian culture throughout the world. For this reason, in 2023 the competition, in addition to its historical partners, is sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Roman Curia and by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI).

From this year there will be over 8.500 new religious buildings to photograph throughout Lombardy: everyone's help is needed to document them. As happened with the local competition dedicated to Lake Como, which has reached its conclusion sixth edition, which he collected over the years 4.700 photos of local monuments, bringing closer together or making thousands of people rediscover, in reality or online, the monuments of the area. In collaboration with the association Path of Dreams, is scheduled for next 1September 7th a Wikipedia dedicated to the competition where it will be possible to photograph churches in the parishes of Lezzeno normally closed to the public.

“Wiki Loves Monuments has always had a particularly important role in Italy, recognized by the volunteers of the Wikimedia projects and by many institutions – said Iolanda Think, President of Wikimedia Italia – Every year the competition reminds us how much more remains to be done to make photos of monuments and works of art truly free, accessible and reusable by everyone. Thanks to the help of many photographers, the 2023 theme will allow us to document and enhance a vast number of buildings spread across our country. We are grateful to all the organizations that have chosen to support the project this year: from the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Roman Curia and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, to the National Association of Italian Municipalities, up to ICOM Italia and FIAF representing museums and photographers in Italy”.

From this year it will be then the new Wiki Loves Monumers Italia app is available developed with the collaboration of Wikimedia Italia volunteers. With a more complete and intuitive design, will allow users to search for the monuments participating in the competition and then upload their photos. The user will be able to filter the monuments - distinguished by type but also by level of documentation Wikimedia Commons – both to more easily find those to upload photos of and to be inspired on which ones to photograph.

The app is based on free maps from OpenStreetMap and reprocesses data Wikidata e Wikimedia Commons; it is made with free open source software, therefore available, modifiable and improveable by anyone.

What is Wiki Loves Monuments:

Promoted by the volunteer communities of Wikimedia projects, Wiki Loves Monuments represents an opportunity for diffusion, promotion e protection of cultural heritage around the world. Since its first edition, the competition has helped document millions of monuments, with over 2,7 million images uploadedand for more than 100.000 participants globally.

The Italian edition confirms itself as a precious collaborative tool for digital documentation of monuments: since approximately 2012 8.750 participants have uploaded to Wikimedia Commons more than 180.000 fotografie, choosing from more 22.000 monuments and cultural assets that can be photographed, to which more will be added in 2023 60.000 religious buildings.

Over the years, local competitions have multiplied and the support of municipal administrations and volunteer groups active in the area has grown. By virtue of this commitment, Italian municipalities will have a dedicated space on the web-app. In this way, it will be possible to load the overall views from the municipality page, but also search for the monuments present in the area with already prepared categories and filters.

How to participate:

The competition takes place entirely online, simultaneously throughout the world, by 1 30 to September. Participation in the competition is free and open to all: those who wish to participate will be able to do so for free by uploading their photos via the web-app (http://app.wikilovesmonuments.it/).

At the end of the competition the jury of experts appointed by Wikimedia Italia will decide the 10 winning photos among the two hundred pre-selected by a preliminary commission of volunteers. The awards ceremony is scheduled for the end of November. The 10 winning photographs they will also compete in the Wiki Loves Monuments 2023 international competition.