Focus on this artwork and explore the History.
The monument was suggested around 2010 by Krzysztof Wojciechowski, a university professor and director of the Collegium Polonicum in Słubice. Polish Wikipedia is a popular website in Poland and, with over a million articles, the 10th-largest Wikipedia in the world. According to Piotr Łuczyński, deputy mayor, the memorial "will highlight the town's importance as an academic centre". A Wikimedia Polska representative stated that the organization hopes that this project will "raise awareness of the website and encourage people to contribute."It was unveiled on 22 October 2014, on the Plac Frankfurcki, becoming the world's first monument to the online encyclopedia. Representatives from the Wikimedia Foundation as well as from the Wikimedia chapters for Poland and Germany (Wikimedia Polska and Wikimedia Deutschland, respectively) attended the dedication ceremony. Dariusz Jemielniak, a professor of management, Wikimedia activist, and an author of the 2014 book Common Knowledge? An Ethnography of Wikipedia, delivered an opening ceremony address.
When Wikipedia started back in 2001 I have to say that I never imagined a day when Wikipedia would be honored with a monument – we write about them, we photograph them with our Wiki Loves Monuments competition, and now we have a monument of our own. It is a truly special and exciting day, and one that I hope shines the spotlight on the thousands of Wikimedians who edit Wikipedia and make it the source of free knowledge it has come to be. I look forward to visiting Słubice one day to see the monument for myself and perhaps meeting some of those involved in the project.
Wikimedia Polska Wikipedia Poland Krzysztof Wojciechowski Wikimedia Foundation Wikimedia Deutschland Common Knowledge? An Ethnography of Wikipedia Polish Wikipedia Monument Plac Frankfurcki Wiki Loves Monuments Common Knowledge? Collegium Polonicum Słubice Dariusz Jemielniak Wikimedia chapter