The Flanders Architecture Institute aims to bring to light women who have left their mark on the designed environment in Belgium - from (interior) architecture and graphic design to fashion and product design. Many female designers remained under the radar of heritage institutions, researchers and collectors, and thus also outside the canon. This project aims to use Wikipedia edit-a-thons or writing sessions to record the contribution of women on Wikipedia and make up for this backlog.
"Invisibility is a sign that there is still much more work to do."‐ Jane Hall
Many female designers remained under the radar of researchers, museums, archives, curators and collectors. Wiki Women Design aims to take female designers and their contributions to cultural heritage out of the shadows of history. Improved heritage care, including the registration of these actors through Wikimedia's infrastructure, contributes to improving visibility and making resources available and known.
More on the projectOn September 23, an international conference took place as the conclusion of the Wiki Women Design project. The conference brought together researchers, experts and designers to reflect on women, heritage and historiography and and the future steps required in advancing research on women and design and in creating a shared effort to address the gender gap in the heritage field.
More on the conferenceAs the evening program to the Wiki Women Design symposium taking place on September 23, the Flanders Architecture Institute organised an evening debate on the same day in collaboration with MAD Home of Creators in Brussels. For this occasion, architects and researchers are invited to debate the role of women in contemporary architectural practice.
More on the evening debateSince the start of Wiki Women Design, 12 writing sessions have taken place. The participants included an impressive group of volunteers, students, designers, researchers and project partners. In total, 250 participants edited, translated and/or corrected about 220 Wikipedia articles. We are very proud of this collective result!
A look back at the sessions Discover the resulting articlesThroughout the project, the Wikipedia project page will serve as a plaftorm for the Wiki Women Design edit-a-thons and a gathering place for knowledge and resources, and will therefore continue to grow in the coming months.
Five women who are making an impact on the contemporary design sector in Belgium recognize Wiki Women Design as an important project that they would like to contribute to. Oana Bogdan, Sara De Bondt, Stefanie Everaert, Caroline Lateur and Linde Freya Tangelder motivate why the project is important and how they think it can make a difference for a more equal gender representation in the design sector and historiography.
Discover the ambassadorsA group of experts steers the project in terms of content. This group includes profiles with expertise in design history and contemporary design, as well as specialists in the field of Wikimedia projects.
Project partnersAre you interested in this project or would you like to contribute as an organization, researcher or volunteer? Are you in possession of archival material about women who had an impact on the designed environment in Belgium or do you know about archival material or collections that are held by other organizations or private persons? Please let us know!
CallAre you a designer or do you own images of design? You can provide your media files free of copyright to authors of Wikipedia articles. You can do this by uploading them through our campaign on Wikimedia Commons.
Wiki Women Design on Wikimedia Commons Call for imagesPartners
AR-TUR, Art & History Museum, AVG-Carhif, Berg en Nete, Design Museum Brussels, Design Museum Gent, Docomomo, Eperon d'Or, Erfgoed Noorderkempen, Erfgoedcel k.Erf, Flanders DC, Ghent University, Hasselt University, KASK, Kempens Karakter, KU Leuven, Matrimony Days, meemoo, Modemuseum Hasselt, MoMu Antwerpen, Open Knowledge Belgium, PXL-MAD, Regionaal Landschap Kleine en Grote Nete, RoSa vzw, ULB, Faculté d'Architecture La Cambre Horta, University of Antwerp, Wikimedia Belgium, Z33
The project was made possible thanks to the support of the Flemish Community.
