Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Documenting DebatikCenter of Contemporary Art archives in commons (ID: 22374601)/Final Report
Application type: Standard application
Part 1: Project and impact
1. Describe the implemented activities and results achieved. Additionally, share which approaches were most effective in supporting you to achieve the results. (required)
The primary objective this project is to document a previously overlooked aspect of Albanian contemporary art scene in the commons. This represents a fundamental shift as, for the first time, we aim to add information and knowledge related to contemporary art in Albania in (at least) EN and SQ Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. The scarcity of readily available materials and the elusive nature of formal and informal groups operating within the contemporary art scene in Albania has made it very hard to expose these materials to the general public. To overcome this, our approach involves working closely with an established art collective like DebatikCenter of Contemporary Art and Qendra Zeta. With this collaboration, everyone involved aims to add for the first time (in our knowledge) materials about the contemporary art scene in Albania (starting in the late 1990s to present), not only in public but in Wikimedia platforms so that others can be exposed to these works and improve upon it.
Last but not least, with this project we are aiming to foster preservation of the materials related to contemporary art in Albania (by publishing them in the commons) and promotion of the local scene on a global scale by hopefully having the articles we will create and edit in even more languages. We were informed that the project had to be implemented in August, which is not practical at all for a country like Albania where heatwaves are frequent. In addition, this was one of the hottest months of the the last decades with lots of people struggling from the heatwaves. Lots of contemporary art projects were done in collaboration, which makes it hard for the organising team to understand how to proceed with uploading in Wikimedia Commons materials that were collaboratively implemented. We need to document as much as possible our experience so that other similar initiatives can easily replicate it. Part of the team was inexperienced in creating quality Wikipedia entries, resulting in initially deleted pages. Logistics could be improved, as the team initially responsible for updating English Wikipedia pages did not complete its work on time.
2. Documentation of your impact. Please use space below to share links that help tell your story, impact, and evaluation. (required)
Share links to:
- Project page on Meta-Wiki or any other Wikimedia project
- Dashboards and tools that you used to track contributions
- Some photos or videos from your event. Remember to share access.
You can also share links to:
- Important social media posts
- Surveys and their results
- Infographics and sound files
- Examples of content edited on Wikimedia projects
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Documenting_DebatikCenter_of_Contemporary_Art_archives_in_commons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_publishing_companies_of_Albania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_Spectrale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access_in_Albania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Theatre_of_Albania_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_of_Sciences_of_Albania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonida_Gashi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifesto_(art_collective) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZETA_Center_for_Contemporary_Art https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albanian_art#Modern_period https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_art_galleries_in_Albania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Mazzi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_W.J._van_Gerven_Oei https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctum_Books https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent_(journal)#Events https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Staal#Other_projects https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pleurad_Xhafa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armando_Lulaj https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pika_pa_sip%C3%ABrfaqe_Publishing_House
Additionally, share the materials and resources that you used in the implementation of your project. (required)
For example:
- Training materials and guides
- Presentations and slides
- Work processes and plans
- Any other materials your team has created or adapted and can be shared with others
Before the meeting we created google docs to share information about articles and the photos we had to upload in the commons. We also created the tab in the following link to help us see the progress during the events. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Documenting_DebatikCenter_of_Contemporary_Art_archives_in_commons
3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with this Rapid Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals. Required. Select one option per question. (required)
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Not applicable |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Not applicable |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Agree |
| F. Other (optional) |
Part 2: Learning
4. In your application, you outlined some learning questions. What did you learn from these learning questions when you implemented your project? How do you hope to use this learnings in the future? You can recall these learning questions below. (required)
You can recall these learning questions below: During this project we hope to do the first step in collaborating with entities and teams that have quite a long experience in documenting contemporary art in Albania. Given that we have not done any previous activity focused in this area we are keen to learn more on the way we need to approach similar teams or institutions in the future after this project is concluded. In addition, we are happy to see that now there is a first step in Albania towards the documentation of Albanian Contemporary Art in the commons. This is the first time that the contemporary art community in Albania gets exposed to the notion of digital commons (or to be more accurate, to contribute in a structured way to the commons) and this will give us a lot to learn from to replicate the experience and improve such efforts in the near future.
In implementing this project, I gained valuable insights into building collaborations with organizations and teams that have significant experience in documenting contemporary art in Albania. Working with these partners allowed me to understand how best to approach similar teams or institutions in the future, including identifying key expectations, coordinating workflows, and establishing a common ground for shared objectives.
I learned a lot about the process of creating structured, accessible documentation for the digital commons. Observing how the Albanian contemporary art community engages with the notion of digital commons for the first time provided useful insights into facilitating meaningful contributions, as well as identifying areas where community education and support are needed.
5. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities? This can include both positive and negative situations. What did you learn from those experiences? (required)
We were informed that the project had to be implemented in August, which is not practical at all for a country like Albania where heatwaves are frequent. The most difficult thing while implementing this project was the heatwave that stoke Albania during the summer. It was very difficult to get together with the group and contributing.
6. What is your plan to share your project learnings and results with other community members? If you have already done it, describe how. (required)
We shared our experience in the events during the grant application but also when the project ended with LibraLabs community, a non formal organization that handles civil liberties in the digital space in Albania. We also plan to share our project learnings in the following event organized by Wikimedia and also in the weekly newsletter by ceehub.
Part 3: Metrics
7. Wikimedia Metrics results. (required)
In your application, you set some Wikimedia targets in numbers (Wikimedia metrics). In this section, you will describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used.
| Target | Results | Comments and tools used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 50 | 25 | |
| Number of editors | 25 | 15 | |
| Number of organizers | 4 | 6 |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 100 | 216 | 336 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 300 | 170 | 30 |
| Wikidata | 250 | 358 | 26 |
| Wiktionary | |||
| Wikisource | |||
| Wikimedia Incubator | |||
| Translatewiki | |||
| MediaWiki | |||
| Wikiquote | |||
| Wikivoyage | |||
| Wikibooks | |||
| Wikiversity | |||
| Wikinews | |||
| Wikispecies | |||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
8. Other Metrics results.
In your proposal, you could also set Other Metrics targets. Please describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used if you set Other Metrics in your application.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
9. Did you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results? (required)
No
9.1. Please state what difficulties you had. How do you hope to overcome these challenges in the future? Do you have any recommendations for the Foundation to support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]10. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency. (required)
379864.07
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
4170
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Provide the link to the financial report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UNGndk5GLgwfsmXGdOTzNRpLDfNU-ne1vabdMEy53t4/edit?usp=sharing
12.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
We didn't have any deviations in the budget.
13. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
No
13.1. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
N/A
13.2. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
N/A
13.3. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
N/A
14.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
Yes
14.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
14.3. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
Yes
15. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. (optional)
Review notes
[edit]Review notes from Program Officer:
N/A
Applicant's response to the review feedback.
N/A