Wiki Loves Monuments 2021 in Malta launch - English
* Ara verżjoni ta' din il-press release bil-Malti
Sixth edition of the world’s largest photography competition launched in Malta
30th August 2021
The sixth 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 the 1st of September. Participation is free and open to all. The deadline for all submissions is on the 30th of September but submissions can be made throughout the month of September. Participants need to own the photos they submit and release them under a Creative Commons open licence.
Photo uploading workshops will be held in mid-September 2021, in accordance with health authority guidelines, in collaboration with the Valletta Design Cluster within the Valletta Cultural Agency. Details will follow at www.wikimalta.org and via Facebook & Instagram closer to the date.
A jury composed of experts within the fields of cultural heritage, photography and Wikipedia will be selecting the winning entries. Ten winning submissions will be nominated for the international Wiki Loves Monuments contest, with the opportunity to win further prizes.
Prizes
Prizes for the 2021 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 in cinema ticket vouchers from Spazju Kreattiv for their 21/22 screenings
4th-10th place: A goody bag each containing custom-made Wiki Loves Monuments mementos worth €50
The winners will be announced in November 2021. All submitted photos will also be exhibited permanently online and at the Valletta Design Cluster throughout December. They will also be displayed at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.
Comments
Speaking at the competition launch, Wikimedia Community Malta President Tony Micallef explained that this year’s competition will be taking place in over 30 countries across the world, which is a slightly smaller number of participating countries than unusual owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic restrictions around 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 40 countries. This is the sixth time that Malta will be participating.
Caldon Mercieca, the Valletta Design Cluster manager, added that, "We are very pleased and proud to have hosted Malta's first Wikipedian in Residence from September 2020. We see cultural heritage as something that should not be taken for granted. Monuments need to be celebrated and enjoyed in all sorts of ways. The Valletta Design Cluster itself is housed within a monument and thus we live with this reality every day. We are very much looking forward to exploring ways to continue share open knowledge with Wikimedia Community Malta and discover ways to ensure that design thinking enables further engagement with monuments and other cultural heritage sites that contain specific design features."
Spazju Kreattiv Artistic Director Daniel Azzopardi, stated that, "Spazju Kreattiv remains committed to supporting Wiki Community Malta in their endeavour to champion cultural heritage through digital platforms. Being the National Centre for Creativity, we do believe that such ventures within the creative domain are important to promote new encounters and exchanges in different community groups."
Furthermore, Mario Mintoff from PhotoCity Valletta said that, "PhotoCity has been giving its support to this initiative since its inception. We believe that our national monuments should be exposed more through photography and digital media."
Further information
- PHOTOS AVAILABLE: Wiki Loves Monuments 2020 Winners
Top entries in the local competition in 2020 included photos of the Valletta skyline, Porte de Bombes, Żejtun church under a red moon, Torri Belveder in Lija, and the Red Tower in Mellieħa at dusk, amongst others. The top photo from the contest in Malta received an honorary mention as it achieved 20th place in the international contest, which featured a total of 229,975 images uploaded from 51 countries.
More information is available at www.wikimalta.org/WLM2021 or on the Wikimedia Community Malta Facebook page.
Wiki Loves Monuments in Malta is organised by Wikimedia Community Malta (WCM) in collaboration with the Valletta Cultural Agency and support from Spazju Kreattiv and PhotoCity Valletta.
Wikimedia Community Malta (WCM) is a Maltese voluntary organisation affliated with the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia and other open knowledge projects. WCM's main aim is to encourage and support the uptake of Wiki-related activity among Maltese individuals and communities in Malta or anywhere around the world.
Details about upcoming WCM activities are available at www.wikimalta.org
