2025:Program/Chitrakatha - Recent highlights from the Odia Wikimedians User Group (Poster session)

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Session title: Chitrakatha - Recent highlights from the Odia Wikimedians User Group [Poster session]

Session type: Poster

Track: Community Health

Language: en

This poster session showcases recent milestones, including digitization efforts, contributions to Wikimedia Commons, and collaborations with artists and cultural institutions. From preserving traditional Pattachitra art to enhancing freely accessible media files with open knowledge. The session highlights key achievements, challenges, and future plans to expand visual documentation in Odia Wikimedia projects, fostering greater engagement in indigenous storytelling through digital platforms.

Description

The Odia Wikimedians User Group is a community of volunteers dedicated to promoting open knowledge in the Odia language through various Wikimedia projects. The group works on enhancing Odia Wikipedia, Wikisource, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons by improving content, digitizing books, and preserving language resources & cultural heritage. Key initiatives include documenting Odia literature, history, and art, as well as conducting outreach programs to engage new contributors, collaboration with state government.

Objective : This poster presentation aims to showcase the recent highlights of the work done by the user group. 1. Highlighting recent contributions to Wikimedia Commons especially lingua libre tool. 2. Showcasing collaborations. 3. Discussing challenges in digitization and community participation 4. Encouraging dialogue on expanding visual representation of indigenous art on Wikimedia platforms

How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?

Inclusivity: The representation of Odia visual storytelling traditions, including indigenous art and literature in Wikimedia projects. By making these culturally significant works freely accessible, the user group broadens participation and knowledge equity for underrepresented communities.

Impact: Through digitization and collaboration with linguists, the effort strengthens the visibility of Odia language while inspiring new contributors to engage with Wikimedia projects.

Sustainability: By preserving and digitally archiving traditional art, literature, we contribute to the long-term availability of Odia cultural knowledge. The initiative also fosters local partnerships and community engagement, ensuring continued growth and participation in Wikimedia projects.

What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?

Everyone can participate in this session

Speakers

• Chinmayee Mishra

Volunteer Wikimedian from a small affiliate “Odia Wikimedians User Group” from India,South Asia. WikiWomenCamp 2023 COT member and WikiWomen* Task Force member. An engineer by profession and Wikimedian by passion. I have been in the Wikimedia movement since 2016.

• Sangram Keshari Senapati (Gapu)

I am Sangram Keshari Senapati from the Odia Wikimedians User Group, an affiliate of the Wikimedia Foundation from India. I mostly work on Odia Wikipedia, Wikidata, Odia Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons, etc.