The ''Wikipedia Monument'' ( pl, Pomnik Wikipedii), located in

Słubice Słubice is a border town in the Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. Located on the Oder river, it lies directly opposite the city of Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany, which it was a part of as ''Dammvorstadt'' until 1945. As of 2019, the town ha ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, is a statue designed by

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

sculptor

Mihran Hakobyan Mihran Hakobyan ( hy, Միհրան Հակոբյան; born February 18, 1984) is an Armenian sculptor. He created the 2014 ''Wikipedia Monument'' in Słubice, the first one of its type. Biography Mihran Hakobyan was born in Stepanakert. His ...

honoring Wikipedia contributors. It was unveiled in Frankfurt Square (Plac Frankfurcki) on 22 October 2014 in a ceremony that included representatives from both local

Wikimedia chapter Wikimedia chapters are national or sub-national not-for-profit organizations created to promote the interests of Wikimedia projects locally. Chapters are legally independent of the Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or ...

s and the

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best know ...

Description

The monument depicts four nude figures holding aloft a globe based on the Wikipedia logo, reaching over up. The

fiber Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorpora ...

-and-

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

statue was designed by Armenian-born artist Mihran Hakobyan, who graduated from

Collegium Polonicum The Collegium Polonicum in Słubice is a joint academic unit of the Adam Mickiewicz University (Polish: Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza) in Poznań and of the Viadrina European University (German: Europa-Universität Viadrina) in Frankfurt ...

. It cost about 50,000 złotys (approximately $13,500; €11,700) and was funded by Słubice regional authorities. The monument has the following inscription:

With this monument the citizens of Słubice would like to pay homage to thousands of anonymous editors all over the world, who have contributed voluntarily to the creation of Wikipedia, the greatest project co-created by people regardless of political, religious or cultural borders. In the year this monument is unveiled Wikipedia is available in more than 280 languages and contains about 30 million articles. The benefactors behind this monument feel certain that with Wikipedia as one of its pillars the knowledge society will be able to contribute to the sustainable development of our civilization, social justice and peace among nations.

History

The monument was suggested around 2010 by , a university professor and director of the

in Słubice.

Polish Wikipedia The Polish Wikipedia ( pl, Polskojęzyczna Wikipedia) is the Polish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. Founded on September 26, 2001, it now has more than articles, making it the -largest Wikipedia edition overall.

is a popular website in Poland and, with over a million articles, the 10th-largest Wikipedia in the world.List of Wikipedias – Meta
. Retrieved 8 September 2014. According to Piotr Łuczyński, deputy mayor, the memorial "will highlight the town’s importance as an academic centre". A

Wikimedia Polska Wikimedia Polska (WMPL; pl, Stowarzyszenie Wikimedia Polska) is a Polish public benefit organization established to support volunteers in Poland who work on Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia. As such, it is a Wikimedia chapter approved by ...

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 , becoming the world's first monument to the online encyclopedia. Representatives from the

as well as from the Wikimedia chapters for Poland and Germany ( and , 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.

References

External links

*
Press release: First-ever Wikipedia Monument unveiled in Poland
Wikimedia Foundation {{Wikimedia Foundation 2014 establishments in Poland 2014 sculptures Articles containing video clips Fiberglass sculptures Monuments and memorials in Poland Nude sculptures Outdoor sculptures in Poland Sculptures by Mihran Hakobyan Sculptures of men Sculptures of women Słubice County Statues in Poland

Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...