Help Architexx rewrite history on on International Women’s Day – join Women Wikipedia Design.
NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS NOW PAST. SEE HERE FOR INFO ON THE CURRENT WIKID INITIATIVE .
ArchiteXX invites us all to help write into Wikipedia women designers, architects and all those involved in the creation of our built environment. They are seeking to create a global effort in order to have the most diverse and wide ranging of women written in on this day. With so many women to write about, they hope that this will be the beginning of an annual event.
Parlour is very keen to support this initiative. In particular, we encourage Parlour supporters to help add entries on Australian women in architecture and design.
What
Women Wikipedia Design is a global call for people to contribute Wikipedia entries about women in architecture, urbanism, design and construction. It aims to address the bias and underrepresentation of women in these disciplines and in the collective canon of notable figures online.
Join us on March 8 to write in those whose work has impacted you.
Why
Despina Stratigakos starts her excellent essay Unforgetting Women Architects by reminding us that ‘History is not a simple meritocracy: it is a narrative of the past written and revised — or not written at all — by people with agendas.” She ends with a call for positive action.
Contributing to Wikipedia … represents a real opportunity to provide … a more accurate perception of women’s participation in architecture.
There is also something very satisfying about writing a forgotten figure — a professional ancestor, maybe even a pioneer — into history. And as the long and rich history of women in architecture becomes more broadly known, it will become that much harder to ignore them, whether in the classroom, the museum, or on prize juries.
As Sue Gardner of Wikimedia put it, “Wikipedia will only contain ‘the sum of all human knowledge’ if its editors are as diverse as the population itself: you can help make that happen. And I can’t think of anything more important to do, than that.”
How
Architexx has created a help sheet including wiki entry protocol and citing criteria to help participants navigate the complexities of Wikipedia writing and editing. Download the Wikibomb_Instructions here.
Start by developing a list of women you would like to write in, collecting information and references you will be citing as well as any images to include.
Sign up to the Architexx list so they know how many women will be written about, and who.
You might also want to read the advice from the Anita Borg Institute How to Edit Wikipedia: Lessons from a Female Contributor.
When
8 March, International Women’s Day
Where
You can contribute from anywhere, but you might also consider hosting a wiki writing party in your area. Let Architexx know if you are interested.
