Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons is a collaboratively created media database hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

Logo Wikimedia Common

Purpose

Wikimedia Commons is the image and media database of the Wikimedia movement. The images, sound files and videos are used in Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia platforms, but can also be used by anyone in the world when respecting the license conditions.

History and background

Originally images used in Wikipedia were stored on the local wiki. When the same image from one Wikipedia was going to be used in another language edition, it had to be uploaded locally. This was not efficient and double work, and therefore in September 2004 the platform Wikimedia Commons was created to serve as a central repository of media files.

The media on Wikimedia Commons come from photo websites like Flickr, photo contests, cultural institutions (GLAMs), universities and other educational institutions, amateur photographers and other sources.

Contacts

Romaine

Wikimedia Belgium has no authority in Wikipedia as it is the community on the local Wikipedia who makes the decisions and as the website is owned by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikimedia Belgium is however founded to support local volunteers and organisations in working with Wikimedia Commons and the other Wikimedia platforms, and we have years of experience in helping organisations with using Wikimedia Commons and adding images and other media files from collections/archives to Wikimedia Commons for use in Wikipedia, Wikidata and beyond.

Timeline

7 September 2004 - Start of Wikimedia Commons
September 2010 - First edition of the photo contest Wiki Loves Monuments organised

Projects in Belgium

Below is an incomplete list of projects done in Belgium on Wikimedia Commons.

September 2011 - Photo contest Wiki Loves Monuments organised in Belgium & Luxembourg (info)
September 2012 - Photo contest Wiki Loves Monuments organised in Belgium & Luxembourg (info)
September 2013 - Photo contest Wiki Loves Monuments organised in Belgium & Luxembourg (info)
September 2014 - Photo contest Wiki Loves Monuments organised in Belgium & Luxembourg (info)
July-August 2016 - Photo contest Wiki Loves Art organised in Belgium (info)
September 2016 - Photo contest Wiki Loves Monuments organised in Belgium & Luxembourg (info)
July-August 2017 - Photo contest Wiki Loves Public Space organised in Belgium to celebrate the introduced freedom of panorama (info)
15 June-15 November 2018 - Photo contest Wiki Loves Heritage organised in Belgium as part of the Europees Jaar Cultureel Erfgoed 2018 (info)
October 2018 - Photography workshop in Maison Losseau in Mons (info)