The Ukrainian edition of one of the world’s largest photo competitions introduces a new special category, “Czech Heritage”. It is looking for photos and videos of buildings and places connected with Czechs and interwar Czechoslovakia. Anyone can take part, and the jury will include members from the Czech Republic.
Wiki Loves Monuments (in Ukrainian Вікі любить пам’ятки) is organised every year by Wikimedia Ukraine. This year, for the very first time, it includes a category dedicated to Czech cultural heritage. Czech traces in Ukraine are significant, ranging from villages settled by Volhynian Czechs to Subcarpathian Ruthenia, which was part of Czechoslovakia between the two world wars and still boasts, for example, the functionalist Czech Quarter in Khust. The goal is to document this heritage and make it available to the whole world under a free licence on Wikimedia Commons.
The category also accepts objects without official cultural monument status: ruins, rebuilt structures or buildings that now serve a different purpose (such photos compete only within the Czech category).
Don’t travel, search your archives
The competition is open to anyone. All you need are your own photos or videos and a free Wikipedia account. For safety reasons, however, one key rule applies: exterior photos must have been taken no later than 31 August 2026. The only exception is interiors.
The project is therefore not an invitation to travel to Ukraine, but to explore your own family and travel archives. If you have visited Zakarpattia, Volhynia or other places linked to Czech history in the past, your pictures can help preserve how they look.
How to take part
Uploads are open throughout October (1 to 31 October 2026):
- Go to the competition page cz.wlm.photo, where you will find lists of objects sorted by region.
- Next to the chosen building, click the Завантажити фото (Upload photo) button and follow the upload wizard.
- If an object is missing from the list (the database is kept in Ukrainian and is growing all the time), write to the organisers at wlm@wikimedia.org.ua. Give the location as precisely as possible (settlement, raion, oblast) and they will add the building to the list promptly.
Jury and prizes
The category is supported by Wikimedia Czech Republic and the Czech Centre in Kyiv. The international jury will include members from the Czech Republic: [ADD NAMES]. Judging will take place online from mid-November.
Prizes will go to the authors of the best photos and the best video, and the most active participants will receive souvenirs.
Featured image: Czech-WLM-2026-cz.png, design by IrynaBoiko (WMUA), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Includes photos by Юрій Зінькевич, Andrii bondarenko, Posterrr, Aktron, Nataliya Shestakova and Viacheslav Galievskyi.