Wiki Loves Monuments 2023 in Malta launch - English
1 September 2023
Malta is taking part in the eighth edition of Wiki Loves Monuments, declared by the Guinness World Record as the biggest photography competition in the world. The competition brings together people from all over the world to take pictures of built cultural heritage to be shared on Wikipedia.
This competition opens every year on the first day of September and the deadline for all submissions is the 30th of September. Submissions can be made throughout the month of September. Participation is free and open to all. The photos submitted must be of the individual participants and they must be willing to post them under an open license in Creative Commons.
A jury composed of experts in the fields of cultural heritage, photography and Wikipedia will select the winning photos. The top ten winning submissions will be nominated for the international Wiki Loves Monuments contest, with the opportunity to win more prizes.
Prizes
Prizes for the 2023 edition of Wiki Loves Monuments in Malta are partly funded through a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation:
- 1st prize: €400 worth of photographic equipment and/or services from PhotoCity of South Street, Valletta
- 2nd prize: €300 worth of books published by Kite Group, Midsea Books and Merlin Publishers
- 3rd prize: €200 worth of books published by Kite Group, Midsea Books and Merlin Publishers
4th-10th place: A goody bag each containing custom-made Wiki Loves Monuments mementos worth €50
While the shortlisted images will be announced at the Malta Book Festival in October, while the local top 10 will be announced in November 2023. All submitted photos will also be exhibited permanently online and they will also be published by the Times of Malta.
Comments
Speaking during the opening of the online competition, the coordinator of the Wiki Loves Monuments jury, Enrique Tabone, explained that this year's competition will take place in about 30 countries around the world. Since the competition began in 2010, more than 3 million photos have been submitted, with last year's competition gathering around 153,000 submissions from 39 countries, including Malta. She concluding by saying that, "it's amazing to see photos from Malta in the top 25 in the international contest, as was the case in last year's competition for two images from Malta."
Additionally, Mario Mintoff from PhotoCity Valletta added that "PhotoCity has been supporting this initiative since its inception. We believe that the monuments should be exposed more through photography and digital media."
More information
- PHOTOS AVAILABLE: Wiki Loves Monuments 2022 Winners - please credit individual photographers
The best photos in last year's local competition included images of the Mdina Cathedral and bastions, Chapel of Lourdes (Gozo), St. Matthew's Chapel in Qrendi, Gozo's Cittadella, Comino's St. Mary's Tower, and Fort Riscasoli among others. Photo of St Magdaline's Chapel in Dingli and the Mellieħa old town skyline, which came in second and first place in the contest in Malta received global attention as were placed 16th and 25th respectively in the international competition, where was a total of 152,997 photos by 3,718 participants from 39 countries were submitted.
For more information on how to participate, visit www.wikimalta.org/WLM2023 or /wikimalta Wikimedia Community Malta on Facebook.
Wiki Loves Monuments in Malta is organized by Wikimedia Community Malta (WCM) with the support from the Wikimedia Foundation, PhotoCity, Kite Group, Merlin Publishers, and Midsea Books.
