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Grants:Project/Rapid/20 people of LGBTQIA+ art for the 20th anniversary of Wikipedia/Report

< Grants:Project‎ | Rapid‎ | 20 people of LGBTQIA+ art for the 20th anniversary of Wikipedia
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Goals edit

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

According to our plan we created a nationwide online event consisting of:

  • a general editing workshop (Jan 16th),
  • an open lecture of Wiktoria Kozioł on contemporary queer-feminist art in Poland, introducing terminology and basic knowlegde related to nonheteronormative artists (Jan 30th), streamed online and translated into Polish Sign Language,
  • a thematic edit-a-thon devoted to nonheteronormative artists, especially Polish women (Feb 13th).

The complete information on the project is available on our Wikiproject site (in Polish only): https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiprojekt:GLAM/Kolektyw_Kariatyda/Wydarzenia#14._Edyton_-_SZTUKA_LGBT+_–_styczeń-luty_2021

Together with the above, we have created a list of names and categories, a bibliography of publications available in Polish and a set of source materials, available also for further use: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yz7KpRv61wkhuzyhkzwOTPTTQvgcF1S1PPyBDrjwfwQ/edit?usp=sharing

During our preparations we’ve contacted several individuals and organisations and ultimately collaborated with Złoty Kiosk, lokal_30, Fundacja Chmura, Galeria Nośna and Fundacja Herstory. We’ve reached out to many people from different cities, like Warsaw, Poznań, Kraków and Gdańsk, spreading the information on the event and creating an interest group consisting of individuals representing various galleries and NGOs, as well as artists, scholars, students and such. The major contribution was from Liliana Piskorska, currently the most established Polish artist discussing queer-feminist issues in her art, who helped us in terms of networking an creating the merit of our project.


Outcome edit

Please report on your original project targets. Please be sure to review and provide metrics required for Rapid Grants.

We have managed to create several articles and other Wikimedia content related to the Polish artists and sexual minorities’ rights. The project was important in raising awareness on the issues regarding non-heteronormative women and their intersectional discrimination (both as women and from minorities) in public discourses. A group of interest in Polish Wikipedia was initiated, together with a diagnosis of the specificity of the work that should be done to overcome the disproportion of representation.


Target outcome Achieved outcome Explanation
Number of total participants: max. 100 ca. 140 A total number of 98 people signed-in via form to attend the project’s events, but in the end not all of them showed up. On the other hand there were also attendants of the lecture who didn’t previously sign-in. Also, there was probably an overlap of groups of participants (the same person could have attended more than one event during the project), but it was impossible for us to measure it – therefore the number of ca. 140 unique participants.
  • 17 people attended the editing workshop and its recorded version had 89 views
  • 130 people attended the lecture online and it was viewed 783 times in total
  • 14 people attended the edit-a-thon

140 unique participants + 742 post factum video views [(783-130) + 89] = 882 users in total

Number of new participants: max. 80 N/A It was an initial project target, but after we informed ourselves on the ‘metrics required for Rapid Grant’ during the project realisation, we realised it was not needed anymore.
Number of people who will help organize the event: max. 20 16 5 people from the Caryatid Collective including Wikipedian-in-Residence, 2 people from ZŁOTY KIOSK, Liliana Piskorska (consultant, lecture host), Wiktoria Kozioł (lecturer), Magda Gach (interpreter), 3 people from sem fem (feminist seminar) / lokal_30, 3 people from other organisations who consulted and helped to organise and/or promote the event
Number of articles created or improved (if applicable): min. 20, max. 40 25 14 new articles and 11 articles improved. The outcome was monitored and manually listed here: https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiprojekt:GLAM/Kolektyw_Kariatyda/Wydarzenia#Przebieg_3
  • New articles: InterAlia, Laurie Toby Edison, Carmen Maria Machado, Krzysztof "Leon" Dziemaszkiewicz, Arek Pasożyt, Queer Archives Institute, Olga Chajdas, Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, Maggi Hambling, Maria Modrakowska, Ania Nowak, The Price of Salt, Anna Daučíková, A potem tańczyliśmy.
  • Edited articles: Elżbieta Podleśna, Portret kobiety w ogniu, Queer theory, Judith Butler, Kontrola (miniserial internetowy), Tove Jansson, Gilbert & George, Karol Radziszewski, Patricia Highsmith, Rosa Bonheur, Carol.
Number of photos uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (if applicable): min. 10, max. 50 24 All the project-related images were added to this category (24 new images, 2 already existed in commons): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:14_edyton_2020-02-13
Number of photos used on Wikimedia projects (if applicable): min. 10, max. 20 17 Files used to illustrate the articles in Polish Wikipedia:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laurie_Toby_Edison_in_2003.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Women_En_Large_cover.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carmen_Maria_Machado_-_book_signing.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Krzysztof_Leon_Dziemaszkiewicz,_performance.tif https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Syren_Karol_Radziszewski_mural.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maggi_Hambling_2006.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_wollstonecraft_statue_2020.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Scallop,_Maggi_Hambling,_Aldeburgh.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:London_-_Brixton_Road_(3).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Conversation_With_Oscar_Wilde_-_London_-_240404.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Modrakowska.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poster_for_a_musical_soiree_of_Maria_Modrakowska.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Patricia-Highsmith-1962.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloomingdale%27s_(48064045898).jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Céline_Sciamma_Lumières_2015.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NOEMIE_MERLANT_CESAR_2020.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adèle_Haenel_Cannes_2017.jpg

Number of newly registered users 1 There was only one person who registered as a new Wikipedia user, others already have had their accounts.

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specjalna:Zarządzanie_kontem_uniwersalnym/Officetape

Number of content pages created or improved, across all Wikimedia projects 49


Our Facebook events https://www.facebook.com/events/1059077504596293 https://www.facebook.com/events/935064730360685

Resources created

Social media posts promoting the project and the content created Facebook posts and their reach:

Instagram posts and their reach:

On the 23rd of January the project was discussed during one of the events of the official Polish Wikipedia anniversary (Panel title: Kolektywne tworzenie wiedzy. Jak tworzyć? Jak edytować? Wymiana doświadczeń). Information can be found here: https://wikimedia.pl/blog/2021/01/10/wikipedia-obchodzi-20-urodziny/ https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_20/Archiwum Some of the articles created were acclaimed by the Polish Wiki community and promoted on the main site of Wikipedia under the “Czy wiesz?” section (Laurie Toby Edison – 30.03, Arek Pasożyt – 31.03, Ania Nowak – 13.04, The Price of Salt – 9.04).

Learning edit

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

  • What worked well?
  • What did not work so well?
  • What would you do differently next time?

Even though the project became a bit smaller than we initially expected and there was a structural change to how the work was organised – instead of having a few local groups in different cities we ended up working altogether online – we were very happy with the positive response the project has received from various groups: Wikipedians, LGBT+ community, students, people from the Polish artworld.

It was a very good idea to have the initial support of ZŁOTY KIOSK, an independent local art gallery, and Liliana Piskorska, a currently most recognized female queer artist in Poland. We were provided with great organisational and networking support. We’ve received very precious advice on how to better reach our audience with limited resources and also vere helped in facilitation and promotion of our events, the use of inclusive language, creating a balanced and verified list of names, as well as obtaining valuable source materials.

We were very happy with the decision to consult and cooperate with the members of the Polish LGBT+ community to create an event that would host an inclusive space to celebrate Wikipedia’s anniversary. Collaborating with Liliana Piskorska helped to adjust the project to the actual needs, make it more consistent and visible. Also, having a lecture of Wiktoria Kozioł, a scholar familiar with the nonheteronormative women’s art, brought us several benefits: cross-promotion of the project, drawing the attention of Wikipedians to the queer/feminist issues, informing the LGBT+ and art communities on the importance of improving Wikipedia and friendly inviting them to join the work. Also, as there are not many publications on the topic, having a well-informed lecture was a great support regarding both the content of the articles to be created and the language to be used. The lecture itself became a valuable source available for further use and reference. It also brought us more information on the artists and publications to be included in our materials. We were also very happy that we had another chance to collaborate with the Polish Sign Language translator, Magdalena Gach, thanks to whom the lectures we offer are more accessible.

We have expected that there will be very little reliable publications accessible and that some of the sources might be impossible to find and/or to obtain. Therefore we have decided to cover not only queer women artist’s biographies, but also other artists from the community, as well as more general or well known subjects like movies, journals or LGBT institutions. Due to the lack of sources and general marginalisation of queer art in history writing those articles was more difficult than we expected. We had a few discussions regarding recognition of underrepresented artists and the notability criteria in Polish Wikipedia. Some of the participants disengaged after the critique of the structural issues within Wikipedia itself and we’ve found it very important to keep discussing those matters. Some of the articles needed a bit of additional attention not to be deleted right after publication, so we decided to have a few follow-up editing sessions for polishing them.

At some point we were also afraid that due to the theme and the growing project’s popularity we might expect some acts of hate or trolling, so we were trying to be as cautious as we could to create a safe and friendly space for the participants. Even though we expected that the topic might trigger some unwanted behaviours, we did not plan any safety measures in advance. But having a larger group of experienced supporters helped us stay calm and do our work.


Coordination of a multi-city format turned out to be very difficult to handle in our free time. Communication with many actors was time and energy consuming and quite demanding. Especially in the pandemic, while many people are being affected with various issues, like eg. screen fatigue or burnout. Therefore at some point we have decided that it is necessary for us to cut the scale of the event and stick to those contacts we have already established, and pursue the organisation of the event without forcefully meeting the targets. We have realised that the growth of our collective is not only metric (visibility, number of articles created, number of people involved), but also based on well-established and fostered relationships with other actors with similar goals. Especially when it comes to empowerment and spreading knowledge on the minority/marginalised/underrepresented groups. But overall, it was a very good idea to reach out to institutions, organisations and individuals in other cities – it not only helped to promote Wikipedia and our collective’s goals, but also contributed to the raise of awareness regarding the recognition of art created by the members of sexual minorities in Poland.

It was a very good idea to invite a Wikiresident to help us with training, setting up a list of names and collecting resources, as there was very limited access to libraries and art institutions due to the pandemic. As it was almost impossible to find and buy any publications on LGBT+ artists in Polish bookstores and second hand bookshops, we were very lucky to have this possibility and support and we didn’t spend money on books.

It was fantastic to have a specialist lecture and it’s translation into sign language. The event was very popular among our audience, bringing more visibility to the issue that war brought up within the project. It also served the role of an educational resource for the edit-a-thon participants, giving an overall picture of the issue of the non-heteronormative female artists in Poland, bringing up crucial sources as well as promoting the usage of inclusive and precise language. It would be good to be able to pay an honorarium for giving such a lecture, we wish to be able to do so in the future, not to depend on our friends or the good will of people who also have limited time and energy themselves (risk of exploitation).

Also, it was great to have a promotional volunteer plus a budget for a paid campaign, as creating and managing social media content is a huge and very important task. Thanks to that work the results of our project are far more visible and our work inspires more and more people to get involved.

We didn’t make it to send out the information about the event to all the media we have planned. We also didn’t make it to invite all the selected organisations/institutions for their patronite/matronite over the event. Knowing our limitations, we were satisfied with the more thoughtful steps we made and the results we got – in general, we have received a very good feedback from all the persons and institutions we have reached out to.

We’ve informed Polish Wikimedia community about the event via facebook group and personal contacts, but there was not much response – other anniversary events seemed to attract more attention. We weren’t very persistent here and we’ve decided to address the event rather to the not-yet-Wikipedians interested in the subject. But on January 23rd there was a panel, where one of the collective talked about our actions and promoted the event.

We’ve decided it was not necessary to consume money on promotional prints. After our main edit-a-thon we have organised a few less informal online meetings for those who were interested in writing more or needed support in finishing their articles. We’ve realised that for many people it’s almost impossible to finish their article during one session, and that without planned and organised support they’re likely to abandon the project. Offering takeaway meals in exchange for the work done is still a great strategy to create an inviting and friendly space.

We also think it would be wise to be able to appoint a paid project coordinator – a person who’d be responsible for project’s administration and receive a honorarium for their work.


Finances edit

Grant funds spent edit

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

  • Take-away meals (for the events participants) – 1580,79 PLN
  • sign language translation of the lecture – 300 PLN
  • promotional campaigns (facebook ads) – 358,86 PLN
  • promotional volunteer (writing promotional content, posting, engaging with the audience, correspondence) – 500 PLN
  • graphic design (project visuals, social media images) – 1000 PLN
  • Wikipedian-In-Residence (training, collecting resources) – 1500 PLN
  • zoom pro – 1489,12 PLN (approved relocation)

TOTAL: 6428,77 PLN

Remaining funds edit

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

Remaining funds are retained by the grantee with WMF's permission until after the report review has been completed and report has been accepted, at which time the WMF program officer will also provide instructions regarding the grantee's reallocation or return of the unspent grant funds.

There is a remaining amount of 1121,23 PLN. We would like to spend it on our further editing projects on women artists – meals during edit-a-thons, books etc.


Anything else edit

Anything else you want to share about your project?

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