Wiki Loves Monuments 2019 in Malta launch - English
Fourth edition of the world’s largest photography competition launched in Malta
6th September 2019
The fourth edition of Wiki Loves Monuments, the Guinness World Record holder for the largest photography competition, is taking place again in Malta this year. The competition brings together photographers from around the world to take stunning pictures of our cultural heritage to be shared on Wikipedia.
This competition opens on September 1st and participation is free and open to all. The deadline for submissions is September 30th. Everyone can take part and participation is free. Participants need to own the copyright of the photos they submit and release them under an open licence. The overall winners will be announced in November 2019. A WLM photowalk will be held mid-September 2019 at a Heritage Malta site.
A jury composed of experts within the field of cultural heritage, photography and Wikipedia will be selecting a number of winning entries. Ten winning submissions will be nominated for the international Wiki Loves Monuments contest, with the opportunity to win further prizes.
Submitted photos will also be exhibited at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta throughout November and December. They will also be displayed at Spazju Kreattiv. Speaking at the competition launch at the National Museum of Archaeology, Wikimedia Community Malta President Tony Micallef explained that this year’s competition will be taking place in over 50 countries across the world. Since the competition started in 2010, over 2 million photos have been submitted, with last year’s competition attracting over 250,000 submissions across 49 countries. This is the fourth time that Malta will be participating.
"Heritage Malta has been giving its support to this initiative since its inception. The Agency believes that our national monuments should be exposed more through the digital medium in a more creative way. In this respect, Heritage Malta through the Digitization Unit, is gearing towards making museums and sites more accessible through various projects and initiatives. This requires not simply investing in equipment but also changing current procedures and the way Heritage Malta museums, sites and workers operate in this field adopting digital technologies," said Russell Muscat, Manager Digitisation Unit within Heritage Malta.
Winning photos from 2018 include the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque in Iran and the Al-Khazneh temple in Petra, Jordan. Top entries in the local competition included photos of St John’s Co-Cathedral and the Chapel of St Anthony of Padua at Fort Manoel, amongst others.
For more information on how to participate, visit www.wikimalta.org/WLM2019.
Wiki Loves Monuments in Malta is organised by Wikimedia Community Malta (WCM) in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv and Heritage Malta. More information is available at www.wikimalta.org/WLM2017 or on the WCM Facebook page.
WCM is a group of active Wikimedians who have come together to encourage and support the uptake of Wiki-related activity among Maltese individuals and communities. Details about upcoming WCM activities are available at www.wikimalta.org.
