The national stage of Wiki Loves Monuments, the world's largest photo contest of immovable cultural heritage sites for Wikipedia, will be held in Ukraine for the fifteenth time.
The goal is to draw attention to the cultural heritage sites of the participating countries, encourage people to photograph these monuments, and distribute the images under a free license, allowing their further use by anyone and anywhere, including on Wikipedia.
The competition was first held in 2010 in the Netherlands, and over 17 years, more than 3.6 million photos of landmarks from different countries have been collected.
In 2012, the competition was first held in Ukraine, and during the photo competition, participants uploaded over 450,000 photos - according to this indicator, Ukraine ranks first in the world. The competition lists on Wikipedia are the largest open database of cultural heritage sites in Ukraine, which already includes over 115,000 monuments.
The international stage began on September 1: competitions have already started in 27 countries — North Macedonia joined for the first time this year. The competition in Ukraine will begin in October.
Traditionally, the organizers will award the authors of the best photos and participants with the largest quantitative contribution in the main nominations. The national stage of the competition also has its own characteristics - participants can submit thematic photos and special nominations, among which the following have already been announced: "German Heritage", "Polish Heritage", "Video", "War Destroys Monuments", "Exterior Elements" and the award "Kharkov Landmarks". This year there is also a new special nomination - "Czech Heritage".
"This year, we have made significant changes to the definition of the contestants who photographed the most monuments — now more attention is paid to monuments whose photos are not yet presented in the Wikimedia Commons; photos whose photos have not been updated for a long time; photos of interiors; and works depicting monuments from regions whose territory is fully or significantly occupied by Russian troops," commented Olga Milyanovich, a member of the organizing committee of the competition, press secretary of the NGO "Wikimedia Ukraine."
Due to martial law, for the safety of participants and national security, only photos taken before August 31, 2026 inclusive can be submitted. The exception is the special nomination "Interiors" (photos inside monuments can be taken at any time without restrictions on the time of creation) and photos taken in temporarily occupied territories.
To participate, from October 1 to 31, you need to go to the competition page http://wlm.photo/ , create or log in to your account, find the landmark in the competition lists, and upload a photo or video of the landmark directly from the list, following the Uploader steps.
Anyone can participate — both professional photographers and beginners. The jury will determine the best photo from each region of Ukraine, and the 10 best photos of monuments from all submitted will represent Ukraine and its cultural heritage at the international stage of "Wiki Loves Monuments."
All male and female contestants who are recognized in the competition will receive souvenirs and valuable prizes from the NGO "Wikimedia Ukraine", which is holding the photo competition in Ukraine.
The competition regulations can be found at the following link: http://rules.wlm.photo/