The QAGOMA Research Library played host to an Art+Feminism Wikipedia edit-a-thon on International Women’s Day 2020. Across the globe people participated in the edit-a-thon, aimed at addressing the under-representation of women, feminism and the arts on Wikipedia.
Presented by Dr Louise R Mayhew the communal workshop gave participants the opportunity to contribute to the digital visibility of women artists on the world’s most popular research tool, by creating, editing and updating Wikipedia pages on women artists from the QAGOMA Collection.
At QAGOMA, 14 editors created 5 new articles, expanded 8 existing articles and added 59 references, with a total of 5000 words across the two hour workshop.
We spoke to some of the participants to find out what inspired them to take part in this exciting and important initiative.
SIGN UP NOW: Subscribe to QAGOMA Blog for the latest announcements, recent acquisitions, behind-the-scenes features, and artist stories.
Ann Thomson

“The absence of easily accessible information about female artists speaks volumes of who we assign value to in the art world. The opportunity it to participate in a collective effort to re-address this imbalance sounded like the perfect way to spend International Women’s Day”. Lily Charlton

Sally Gabori

“I like exploring ways on how I can harness technology to highlight more women and celebrate their works.
I was delighted to come across Sally Gabori, one of the most important Australian painters and Aboriginal artist. She first held a paintbrush at age 81, and 7 months after beginning to paint Sally was attending her own sell out show at a Brisbane gallery!” Ria San Gabriel
RELATED: Sally Gabori

Madonna Staunton

“I heard about the event and I wanted to contribute to addressing the under-representation of awesome women in public discourse!” Vanessa Swinburn
RELATED: Madonna Staunton
Art+Feminism Wikipedia edit-a-thon participants Vanessa Swinburn (left) and Janeene Preston-Bennett” src=”https://blog.qagoma.qld.gov.au/wp-content/media/BLOG_MadonnaStaunton-1.jpg” alt=”” width=”1170″ height=”773″ /> Art+Feminism Wikipedia edit-a-thon participants Vanessa Swinburn (left) and Janeene Preston-Bennett / Photograph: Katie Bennett
id=”attachment_45328″ align=”alignnone” width=”1170″
Judy Cassab

“Having edited wiki articles before I was keen to get involved in the event to actively help bring awareness to women artists whose legacies are absent from the canon of art history.” Samantha Wallis
RELATED: Judy Cassab

Find out more about your library
The QAGOMA Research Library is located on Level 3 of the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA). Explore the online catalogue.
Subscribe to YouTube to go behind-the-scenes / Hear artists tell their stories / Read about your Collection
#QAGOMA