The Art+Feminism group in New York is organising its second annual Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon over the International Women’s Day Weekend. The intention of the event is to redress the gender imbalance on the site.
According to a 2011 Wikipedia Editors study, just 8.5% of Wikipedia editors are women. On Saturday 7 March at MoMA, New York, participants will have the opportunity to write, edit and proof read articles on female artists, feministic art scholarship and related intellectual movements.
The event’s organisers said: “The reasons for the gender gap are up for debate; suggestions include leisure inequality, how gender socialisation shapes public comportment, and the sometimes contentious nature of Wikipedia’s talk pages.
“Content is skewed by the lack of female participation. This represents an alarming absence in an increasing important repository of public knowledge.”
Though based at MoMA, other events will be taking place over the weekend of 7-8 March at a total of 55 international venues and satellite locations including The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Banff Centre, Canada.
Confirmed events in the UK are taking place in Dundee at the Hannah Maclure Centre, University of Abertay on Friday 6 March and Dundee Contemporary Arts on Saturday 7 March, and in Yorkshire at The Hepworth Wakefield on Sunday 8 March (International Women’s Day.
For a full list of locations and other resources visit art.plusfeminisim.org
