Article written by Alexia Pinto Ferretti and Lena MK of Maison MONA—this project received a micro grant from Wikimedia Canada

In the fall of 2024, the Maison MONA team began a first tour of training sessions on Wikimedia platforms at artist-run centres in Quebec, at Sporobole (Sherbrooke) and Caravansérail (Rimouski). Wanting to build on this rewarding experience of exchange, the team hit the road again in Quebec this past spring, with the support of Wikimedia Canada, to offer an introductory workshop to staff, members, and artists at Atelier Silex in Trois-Rivières and Est-Nord-Est in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli.

These two workshops sparked numerous conversations with participants about the discoverability issues and challenges affecting these various local cultural ecosystems. Despite high-quality artistic proposals and events, artists and centres operating outside major urban centres are victims of a “Montrealization” of cultural media attention. Their presence on Wikipedia is therefore particularly precarious, due to a lack of centred, admissible sources about their practices and outreach activities.

In order to give agency back to regional stakeholders, we at Maison MONA believe that prioritizing training on the Wikidata platform is more effective for improving the visibility of visual arts outside the metropolis. During the training sessions at Atelier Silex and Est-Nord-Est, we therefore carried out several targeted contributions with participants on both established and emerging artists, as well as on cultural organizations that showcase the Mauricie and Chaudière-Appalaches regions.

While these workshops were also an opportunity to clear up certain misunderstandings around copyright for photographs of artworks on Wikimedia Commons, we found that this complex and sensitive topic continues to concern the artistic community. Several artists and cultural workers also mentioned that the real barrier to improving their digital literacy on Wikimedia platforms is the lack of financial and time resources to train adequately on questions of online discoverability. This regional tour confirms the need to support this type of training with local stakeholders but also to engage with various structuring initiatives, for example, arts visibles – laboratoire sur la découvrabilité et les données en arts, in order to sustain this work of awareness-raising and the co-construction of new contributor ecosystems over the long term.

At a time when virtual training predominates, we warmly thank Wikimedia Canada for making these in-person gatherings possible right at the heart of our francophone artistic communities in Quebec. We also warmly thank the team and members of Atelier Silex in Trois-Rivières for their kind welcome. And a big thank you to the team and artists in residence at Est-Nord-Est for their generosity and for the swim in the Saint Lawrence River.