Overview
In 2023, the GLAM programme refocused its activities under the relatively new Programme Lead, Sandra Becker, who joined in the second half of 2022. Sandra spent the first half of the year developing a new GLAM strategy, which guided activities and projects throughout the year and into 2024.
The new strategy focuses heavily on supporting inclusivity in cultural institutions. In 2023, this work centred mainly around museums, as per the new definition of museums announced by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 2022, but it also touched on more general efforts in the programme. We lent our expertise and time to amplifying access to cultural knowledge and enhancing gender equity both in the professional field and in the collections’ representation of female artists. We gathered best practices from other GLAM institutions and like-minded organisations and worked to translate them for the Swiss museum landscape. We continued to strengthen our relationship with ICOM, positioning our chapter as an important partner to help realise their strategic goals.
The strategy also aims to facilitate new partnerships and opportunities. A key success was our collaboration with the Swiss art association Femme Artist Table (FATart), which led to a free dedicated community space for Wikimedia CH events (see the highlight activity below). We also raised Wikimedia CH’s visibility and reach by giving speeches and presentations at several high-profile events, including a presentation on knowledge equity in GLAM at the NGO CSQ67 Forum in New York City.
Highlight activity
Dedicated Community Space in Schaffhausen
One of the big successes of 2023 was a partnership with the Swiss art association Femme Artist Table (FATart), which led to them offering our community a meeting and editing space in Schaffhausen.
The opening event for the space was on 2 September, with a cocktail event and a Wikipedia workshop. The space also hosted several other workshops, including a workshop on women’s monuments; the Anti Bias Wiki Time event, which included a presentation on artistic research on bias and discrimination by artist María Linares in collaboration with Wikipedian IvaBerlin and a free Wikipedia atelier; and a Mini GLAM event on Peruvian Moche Culture.
The partnership was born from cooperation between GLAM Lead Sandra Becker and FATart co-founder and artist Ursina Gabriela Roesch. As an artist, Sandra exhibited several times at the FATart fair. She invited Ursina to the GLAM-on-Tour at the Montreux Jazz Archive in November 2022, which resulted in Ursina becoming a Wikipedian.
Located on the fourth floor of the “Kammgarn West” district, the community space organises year-round activities with an exhibition programme specifically dedicated to female artists. It offers ample space for discussions, workshops, co-working and a café-bar service. In the second half of the year, Wikipedia authors met there to research, edit, network and exchange experiences. The aim of this innovative space is, above all, to contribute to more female representation on Wikipedia and its sister projects.
The collaboration advances Wikimedia CH’s aim to increase inclusivity on Wikimedia platforms, as well as FATart’s core mission to ensure equal rights for women* in society, especially in the arts. Says Ursina, “As FATart, we are committed to the visibility, recognition and appreciation of women in the art world, which is still dominated by men.”
[As per FATart: “The gender asterisk (*) serves as a reference to the social construct of ‘gender’. The asterisk after ‘women’ is intended to clarify that it refers to all persons who define themselves, are defined, or are visually perceived as ‘women’.”]
Key programme activities
- Gave a presentation on knowledge equity in GLAM at the NGO CSW67 Forum, a civil-society gathering in New York City that runs parallel to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.
- Organised three GLAM-on-Tour events: one at the Abbey Library in St. Gallen in May, one at the Zug Library at the end of June and early July, and one with the Swiss National Sound Archives in Lugano in November. We also produced a promotional video demonstrating the benefits of the GLAM-on-Tour events.
- Organised a global campaign for International Museum Day 2023, collaborating with ICOM, the German and Austrian chapters and GLAM partners. The campaign included a photo contest, a video release and an online roundtable on ICOM’s new definition of museums.
- Supported International Archives Week 2023 with the Association of Swiss Archivists and the German and Austrian Wikimedia chapters around the theme “ArchivesUnited”. This campaign included an online roundtable about the Swiss archive landscape.
- Launched a partnership with the Swiss Archive of the Performing Arts to promote archives and data about the performing arts in Switzerland.
- Trained 21 librarians from the Vaud canton to add more than 190 references to 40 Wikipedia articles as part of the University Library of Lausanne’s #1Lib1Ref Campaign.
- Worked with the Swiss National Library to build a digital collection that compiles, archives and freely shares Wikipedia content related to Switzerland. The Wikipedia collection is listed in the library catalogue and can be consulted through e-Helvetica Access, the library’s online portal.
- Strengthened existing GLAM partnerships, including the French-speaking WikiRomandie network and our cooperation with Les sans pagEs and FemNetz, a feminist network in the German Wikipedia.
- Sponsored the Journée des logiciels libres en Archives, Bibliothèques et Centres de documentation (Libre ABC) in the Geneva Ethnography Museum and gave a presentation entitled “Wikidata and the Swiss Archive Landscape”.
- Gave a keynote speech entitled “Wikidata as Normdata” at the convention of the Swiss Archivists Association (VSA-AAS) in Sarnen and also presented the VSA-AAS Map Integration Project. Both topics were included in the online Swiss review Arbido, published by VSA-AAS.
- Participated, in cooperation with other Wikimedia chapters, in the 20th ICOM Triennale Conference in Valencia. It was the first time Wikimedia chapters participated in the event and contributed with a stand, a project page and speeches (see the event report.)
- Organised a WikiNeocomensia workshop with the Neuchâtel State Archives to mark the 175th anniversary of the Republic and the canton of Neuchâtel and the founding of modern Switzerland. The workshop aimed to improve and create Wikipedia articles and content about the historical figures who left their mark on Neuchâtel.
- Supported the 9th Swiss Open Cultural Hackathon (GLAMhack 2023) organised by OpenData.ch, bringing together those passionate about GLAM and coding to work on various projects focused on colonial collections and provenance research.
- Supported a series of WikiNeocomensia online workshops and professional meetups for GLAM professionals to enrich Wikipedia resources on the built heritage in the canton of Neuchâtel, engage local GLAM partners and train new Wikipedians. Working with Programme Community, we organised an in-person workshop in October that was open to Community members, prompting a few of them to participate.
- Awarded grants to fund two initiatives that support diversity and inclusion in Wikimedia projects and within our community: an event for “Who writes his_tory?” to convene women and non-binary Wikipedia contributors and the campaign Wiki Loves PRIDE (inSPORT) inEurope to address the content gap on LGBT+ topics in Wikimedia projects and participation gaps of LGBT+ contributors in non-English languages.
Programme impact
- Our partnership with VSA-AAS led to several outreach opportunities, such as a keynote speech, a publication and the integration of our map service on their website. We had a significant presence at their event, helping raise our profile and positioning us as a trusted partner.
- Our partnership with FATart led to a community space and allowed us to organise several events for free.
- We deepened our cooperation with ICOM and extended our activities around International Museum Day 2023.
Looking ahead
For 2024, the GLAM Programme will focus on museum transformation in alignment with ICOM’s new museum strategy, which focuses on civil society, sustainability, disruption and digitalisation. Through different events and video releases, we will aim to address the challenges for museums in the future and explore new forms of archiving and creating knowledge bases. Our main theme for 2024 is decolonising collections and encouraging inclusive narratives. Our guiding questions will be:
- What narratives can be told?
- How can marginalised knowledge be presented?
- How can oral history be integrated into Wiki projects?
The GLAM Programme aims to extend our cultural network by reaching out to small- and medium-sized GLAM institutions for more diverse knowledge-creation processes.
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Photo credits
- Parc de la Légende in Lausanne. This photo was an entry in Wiki Loves Monuments 2019. Photo by Kanouch - own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Kloster Allerheiligen (All Saints Abbey). At the abbey's museum, a mini-GLAM event on Peruvian Moche Culture was held. Photo by Roland zh - own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.
- The Swiss art association FATart offered the Swiss Wiki community a space for shared exchange and editing. The new space is located in Kammgarn West, Schaffhausen. Photo by Kerstin Sonnekalb (WMCH) — own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- A promotional video demonstrating the benefits of the GLAM-on-Tour events. By Wikimedia CH.
- #1Lib1Ref explainer video. Video by FNartey (WMF) — own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED.
- Organisations from Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland at the Wikimedia stand at the 20th ICOM Triennial Conference in Valencia. Photo by Foeromeo — own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- In the summer breeze, tulips are blossoming against the blue of lake and sky, with mountains at the edge of Lake Lugano. Entry from Wiki Loves Switzerland 2022. Photo by Obomon - own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Video: Museum and Wiki experts comment on the new definition of museums. Video by Pepperpix — own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED.
- The church of San Abbondio in Gentilino. Photo by Hadi - own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Lauterbrunnen. Entry in Wiki Loves Switzerland 2022. Photo by Dini78 - own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.