Wiki Loves Monuments, the Guinness World Record holder for the largest photography contest, has come to Malta for the first time.

The contest, which started today, is bringing together photographers from around the world to take stunning pictures of Malta’s cultural heritage to be shared on Wikipedia. The deadline for submissions is September 30. The contest is open to everyone who owns a camera and the will to participate.

WCM is a group of active Wikimedians who have come together to encourage and support the uptake of wiki-related activity amongst Maltese individuals and communities. WCM has recently been formally recognised as a Wikimedia User Group by the Wikimedia Foundation. 

There will be prizes for winning entries, which would be exhibited at St James Cavalier in Valletta throughout November and December. Ten winning submissions will be nominated for the international Wiki Loves Monuments contest. The winner of the international contest would be able to choose from €1,000 cash prize or a scholarship of up to €2,000 to Wikimania 2017 in Montreal, Canada.

Since the contest was first held in 2010, nearly 1.5 million photographs have been uploaded. Winning photos from 2015 included an aerial photograph of Westerheversand Lighthouse in Germany, the Museum of the Inconfidência in Brazil, and the interior of the Vakil Mosque in Iran.

More than 6,000 people from 33 countries took part in last year’s contest. Forty countries across six continents are running local contests this year.

An introductory workshop for those interested in participating will take place on Tuesday 6 September at 6pm at Spazju Kreattiv’s Spot A inside St James Cavalier in Valletta.

The contest is organised by Wikimedia Community Malta, in collaboration with SpazjuKreattiv and sponsored byPhotocity. For more details about WCM, visit http://www.wikimalta.org. 

Further information is also available here.