Every year, the Friends of Wikimedia Fund helps bring impactful ideas to life — ideas that connect people with knowledge, amplify underrepresented voices, and build stronger cultural connections.
This year, thanks to the generosity of donors like you, we were able to fund three inspiring projects across Belgium. These initiatives demonstrate the power of open knowledge and how cultural institutions and communities can come together to enrich Wikimedia projects.
Here’s what your support made possible:
Preserving cultural heritage through digital archives
Starting 1 October 2025, we’ll begin a collaborative project with meemoo to digitize and archive cultural heritage materials.
The project focuses on making high-quality photographic reproductions accessible to everyone:
- Uploading thousands of digitized images to Wikimedia Commons, with rich metadata linked to Wikidata.
- Enhancing Wikipedia articles with these images, bringing history to life for readers.
- Hosting writing events around key themes — like International Women’s Day — where participants write new articles illustrated with these archival images.
- And analyzing past meemoo uploads to measure impact and inspire other heritage organizations to contribute their collections.
📖 Learn more about this partnership here.
A Wikimedian in Residence at two museums
Two Ghent-based museums — the Museum of Industry and the House of Alijn — are working together to make their public domain collections accessible on Wikimedia platforms.
Through this residency, they’re unlocking hidden treasures:
- The Museum of Industry is sharing reproductions of wooden printing letters and portraits of 19th-century industrialists, as part of their TypeFaces exhibition.
- The House of Alijn is introducing circus heritage and folk prints to Wikimedia projects for the very first time.
All of these images are linked to Wikipedia and Wikidata, building a sustainable digital presence for their collections.
The project is still looking for a temporary team member! If you’re passionate about cultural heritage, Wikimedia, and working with data, this internship could be for you.
🔗 Read the full job posting here.
Wiki ❤️ Denderland: a traveling photo expo
The Wiki Loves Denderland photo exhibition brings the Wikimedia mission closer to local communities in the Dender region.
From July 2025 through January 2026, the exhibition will visit libraries and cultural centers in Aalst, Erpe-Mere, Lede, Haaltert, Denderleeuw, and Ninove — showcasing the best photos from the 2024 Wiki Loves Denderland contest and demonstrating how Wikimedia projects work.
Each stop includes workshops where everyone, even beginners, can learn how to upload photos and share knowledge on Wikipedia and Commons. The emphasis is on accessibility and inclusion: everyone is welcome, regardless of digital experience.
This year’s photo contest — running from 24 June to 30 September 2025 — invites photographers to capture breweries and folk pubs across Denderland, celebrating local traditions under the theme Wiki Loves Denderland 2025 – Santé!.
📸 Find out how to participate here.
Thank you for making this possible
Every donation to the Friends of Wikimedia Fund — big or small — helps make projects like these possible. Together, we are building a world where knowledge is freely accessible, inclusive, and representative of all communities.
🙏 Learn more about the Friends of Wikimedia Fund and how you can contribute.
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