Wiki Loves Monuments, the Guinness World Record holder for the largest photography contest, has come to Malta for the first time this year.

The contest brings together photographers from around the world to take stunning pictures of our cultural heritage to be shared on Wikipedia. It began on September 1 and the deadline for submissions is September 30.

A jury composed of experts within the field of cultural heritage, photography and Wikipedia will be selecting a number of winning entries which will be awarded prizes, courtesy of Photocity, Valletta.

Winning entries will also be exhibited by Spazju Kreattiv (St James Cavalier) in Valletta throughout November and December.

Ten winning submissions will be nominated for the international Wiki Loves Monuments contest, the winner of which can choose from a €1,000 cash prize or a scholarship of up to €2,000 to attend Wikimania 2017 in Montreal, Canada.

Since the contest started in 2010, nearly 1.5 million photographs have been uploaded. Winning photos from 2015 included an aerial photograph of Westerheversand Lighthouse in Germany, the Museum of the Inconfidência in Brazil and the interior of the Vakil Mosque in Iran.

More than 6,000 people from 33 countries took part in last year’s contest. This year, the competition has been opened to 40 countries across six continents with nine first-time participants, including Malta.

Everyone can take part and participation is free. Entrants need to own the copyright of their submissions and release them under an open licence. Contestants can use the Wiki Loves Monuments’ interactive map to explore heritage sites close to them and to find out what still needs to be photographed. The overall winners will be announced in December 2016.

An introductory workshop for those interested in participating is taking place today at 6pm at Spazju Kreattiv’s Spot A.

For more information on how to participate, visit www.wikimalta.org/WLM2016 or visit the Wiki Loves Monuments dedicated space at Spot A.

Wiki Loves Monuments in Malta is organised by Wikimedia Community Malta (WCM) in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv and is sponsored by Photocity. WCM is a group of active Wikimedians who have come together to encourage and support the uptake of Wiki-related activity among Maltese individuals and communities. WCM has recently been formally recognised as a Wikimedia User Group by the Wikimedia Foundation. Details about upcoming WCM activities are available at www.wikimalta.org

Westerheversand Lighthouse in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, by Marco Leiter, won first place in Wiki Loves Monuments 2015.

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