Our workshops are open to everyone who is interested to learn about editing Wikipedia, our focus is on increasing the number of Wikipedia entries presenting women-of-colour artists from different fields of creative and cultural production. We are collaborating with experienced Wikipedia editors or representatives of Wikimedia South Africa to facilitate workshops and give recommendations about our work.
Participants will learn how to create and upload new articles or to expand existing entries. We will draw from research generated by the Art on our Mind research project and participants will work together creating and expanding Wikipedia entries on artists and creatives. To prepare, please identify an artist or artist group whose entry you want to create or expand. Please bring your laptop as we will work online, editing and creating entries.
Read an article in The Guardian what Wikimedia is doing about the fact that women make up only 15-20% of the editors on Wikipedia. [pdf here]
Art on our Mind received a Wikimedia Foundation Rapid Grant from July 2019 to June 2020, which helped facilitate our meetings.
Current Art on our Mind Wikipedia Workshops
Due to the current pandemic, all physical Wikipedia Workshops were moved online.
We are currently collarborating with different institutions, training staff, creatives and the public:
Johannesburg Art Gallery Wikipedia Workshops
https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Johannesburg_Art_Gallery/JAG_Wikipedia_Workshops
Phototool Wikipedia Workshops
https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Phototool/Phototool_Wikipedia_Workshops_(March_2020)
Bridge Books Edit-a-thons
https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Bridge_Books/ArtAndFeminism2020_(February_2020)/home
Coordination of AOOM Wikipedia Workshops
We make use of a Wikimedia platform AOOM Wikipedia Workshops to coordinate our work, find more information here:
Past workshops
Wikipedia Workshop at Phototool
Thursday, 5 March, 10-15h
The Wikipedia workshops at Phototool are run in collaboration with Art on our Mind, aiming to enable participants to upload new articles or to expand on existing entries. Phototool has been running a research project since 2016, entitled “Survey of Photography Training and Learning Initiatives on the African Continent” which plots a map of the photography training and learning initiatives that are currently operating in African coutries.
In the workshop, we engaged with the research material which was generated by the project and participants learned how to generate references for Wikipedia entries. Participants also identified photographers/artists/creatives whose entry they helped to create or expand (individually or in group work).
Find more information here:
https://www.phototool.co.za/blog/2020/3/11/wikipedia-workshop
https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Phototool/Phototool_Wikipedia_Workshops_(March_2020).
http://survey.phototool.co.za/about.html
https://www.phototool.co.za/blog/2016/10/27/survey-of-photography-learning-initiatives-on-the-african-continent
Bridge Books Edit-a-thon
Wednesday, 26 February 16h, 90 Commissioner Street.
The Bridge Books Edit-a-thons are run in collaboration with Art on our Mind, focussing on women fiction writers. They are convened in collaboration with art+feminism, more information here:
https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Bridge_Books/ArtAndFeminism2020_(February_2020)/home
Oral Histories Workshop
Wednesday, 5 February, 9-13h
Seminar Room 207, 2nd floor, Robert Sobukwe Block.
The Art On Our Mind Wikipedia group joined the Orientation Workshop by the Wits History Workshop as part of our work around Oral Citations in Wikipedia entries. More information about the use of oral citations in Wikipedia here:
Oral Citations research project
People are Knowledge. Exloring alternative methods of citation on Wikipedia
When Knowledge Isn’t Written, Does It Still Count?
African Feminisms (Afems ) Wikipedia panel discussion
Saturday, 7 September 2019, 16h, Wits Graduate School
Find out more about African Feminisms (Afems) or register here.
As Wikipedia enters the voting age this year, we will look a bit closer at the online encyclopedia’s accountability and in terms of its race, gender, sexuality and other bias, to inquire what programmes are in place to educate and decolonise this space of global knowledge collection. For this panel, Afems has invited Wikimedia South Africa director Bobby Shabangu and Wiki Loves Women co-founder Isla Haddow-Flood to speak about recent efforts of Wikimedia South Africa to change the way the online spaces frame what is “knowlege” who has access and who owns it.
Bobby Shabangu is Wikimedia ZA director of projects since 2013. His editing activities on Wikipedia focus on the African continent and the Joburgpedia project which involves several institutions. He organises workshops for Wikipedia training and is part of the Community Process Steering Committee for the Wikimedia Foundation working on formulating the 2030 Movement strategy.
Isla Haddow-Flood is a writer, editor and project strategist who is passionate about harnessing communication technology and media platforms for the advancement of open access to knowledge; specifically, knowledge that relates to and enhances the understanding of Africa via the Open Movement (and especially Wikipedia). Since 2011, Isla has been working with members of the WikiAfrica movement to conceptualise and instigate #OpenAfrica, Kumusha Bus and WikiEntrepreneur. She is the co-leader of projects such as Wiki Loves Africa (an annual photographic contest), Kumusha Takes Wiki (citizen journalists in Africa collecting freely-licensed content). In 2016, Isla has co-lead the NGO Wiki In Africa to instigate Wiki Loves Women (content liberation project related to African Women), WikiFundi (an offline editing environment that mimics Wikipedia) and WikiChallenge African Schools (that introduces the next generation of editors to Wikipedia). She also volunteers her time to the Wikimedia Movement’s strategy process by being a Working Group member for Advocacy and is a member of the Wikimedia Foundation’s Annual Plan Grant committee.
Wikipedia edit-a-thon
Friday, 23 August 2019, 15h, Wits Writing Centre
Wikimedia Strategy 2030: Capacity Building and Diversity
2 August 2019, 15h, Wits Writing Centre
More than 20 participants came to engage in discussions during the Wikipedia Salon with Wikimedia ZA director Bobby Shabangu, focussing on two areas chosen by Wikimedia South Africa for the discussion of the Wikipedia 2030 strategy: Capacity Building and Diversity.
From the invite: Many people use Wikipedia as their first point of reference for their school research projects and general update on daily subject topics. The Wikimedia Foundation which runs Wikipedia would like to find out from you through a workshops which will be held in Johannesburg and Cape Town, how can they improve Wikipedia’s user interaction and how can they support content contribution so that it represent the diverse people who reads it, it’s a movement strategy which they aim to reach by year 2030 where Wikimedia content represents everyone who consumes and contributes to it. This will not be edit workshops but Salon Strategy where participants will discuss and take a short survey afterwards. So, we would like to invite you to take part in this Salon Strategy Survey. Over the next months Wikipedians around the world will be getting together to be part of this survey, so any ideas you have are very important to us. Come through! Even if you want to listen to how the conversation is going.