During the period from March 1 to March 31, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Ukrainian Institute and the NGO "Wikimedia Ukraine," will conduct the annual information campaign "Month of Cultural Diplomacy of Ukraine on Wikipedia."
This information campaign aims to increase the number of articles about Ukraine and its culture in Ukrainian and other languages since Wikipedia is one of the largest and most accessible global sources of information.
Since Wikipedia is one of the world’s largest and most accessible sources of information, it is important to have there articles about Ukraine and Ukrainian culture in different languages.
“Since 2021, when we initiated filling Wikipedia with true facts about Ukraine, the project has achieved remarkable success. It is important that this process has been going on for the fourth year in a row and is growing in scale, “overgrown” by new caring people in Ukraine and around the world. I thank every one of them for their contribution to the common cause. These systemic efforts are critically important in the context of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine and its attempts to destroy Ukrainian identity, distort Ukrainian history, appropriate our artists, and deny Ukraine’s right to exist. The Month of Ukraine’s Cultural Diplomacy on Wikipedia is an important part of the strategy to promote truthful, fact-based narratives about Ukraine in the world,” Dmytro Kuleba, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The project will be held for the fourth time – the first campaign took place in 2021. In just three years, more than 6,000 unique articles on Ukrainian culture have been created on Wikipedia in different languages as part of the initiative. Thus, texts appeared on the platform not only in languages such as French, German, Japanese, Chinese, etc., but also in Arabic, Basque, Welsh, Indonesian, Tiap, and Gujarati.
“We have been holding the Cultural Diplomacy Month on Wikipedia for four years now, and during this time, a large community of Wikimedians from all over the world has formed around it, helping to open Ukraine to the world step by step. For example, last year, 154 contributors from all over the world joined the campaign: from the United States and Canada to Malaysia and Japan. At the same time, we encourage all Ukrainians who know foreign languages to join: anyone can contribute to Wikipedia in any language they speak,” comments Ilya Korniyko, Chairman of the Board of Wikimedia Ukraine.
In the 4th edition, we invite you to explore Ukrainian artists of cinema, music, literature, architecture, and design, as well as exciting cultural phenomena. It is a unique opportunity to discover world-renowned Ukrainian artists.
“Cultural colonization is primarily aimed at subjugating and preventing the independent development of nations through culture. Russia has been appropriating Ukrainian cultural heritage for centuries, including the most prominent Ukrainian artists and their achievements, and reducing Ukrainian culture to the level of a small-town culture. Our task is to reclaim our own cultural heritage and tell its true story to the world,” says Volodymyr Sheiko, Director General of the Ukrainian Institute.
We invite everyone to join the project. Information about the contest, the list of proposed articles, and the terms of participation are available at ucdm.wikimedia.org.ua
