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Rising Voices is a Global Voices outreach project that supports underrepresented communities who want to tell their own stories using digital media. By offering training, resources, microgrants, and mentoring, the initiative helps these communities, especially those speaking endangered or indigenous languages, join the global conversation and share their perspectives online.

Wikimedia Community Ireland recently joined their campaign that brings together a diverse group of Wikimedia Affiliate Groups to co-organize local workshops focused on digital activism for Indigenous, minoritized, or low-resource languages.

These workshops will incorporate elements of the Rising Voices – UNESCO toolkit project “Digital Initiatives for Indigenous Languages,” which has been adapted to a number of virtual and in-person workshops over the past several years.

In this episode, we talk to Lucy, a member of the IgboWikimedian Group who are taking part in the initiative. We learn more about her unique and diverse language community, the challenges they face and the importance of initiatives like Rising Voices in strengthening their language in the digital space.

About Our Guest

Lucy Chinyeaka Iwuala is a Wikimedian, language professional, and cultural heritage advocate dedicated to bridging digital gaps for African languages. With a focus on Igbo and other indigenous African languages, she works to expand online content, empower women contributors, and leverage technology for linguistic preservation. Her initiatives combine digital literacy training with community-driven projects to ensure underrepresented voices take part in shaping the digital narrative of Africa’s cultural heritage.

Igbo Wikimedians User Group (Nigeria) represented here by Lucy Iwuala

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Igbo_Wikimedians_User_Group

Igbo language is one of the most spoken ethnic languages in Nigeria and is spoken by the Igbo people that are native to the present-day South Eastern Nigeria with an estimated population of 34 million (2016 est.), excluding Igbo people in the diaspora. Small ethnic Igbo populations are also found in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

The aim of the Igbo Wikimedians User Group is to leverage on this huge number of people that speak the Igbo language to ensure that content production and consumption in the various Igbo Language platforms of Wikimedia is given front row focus.

Welcome to the Wikimedia community Ireland podcast, your portal to free knowledge and Irish culture.

Intro contains Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/achaidh-cheide
License code: JBQCMVAHZIMU692D

Sign up to our newsletter at wikimedia.ie or follow us on social media @wikimediaie to keep up to date with upcoming events all over Ireland in 2025!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share it with your friends or on social media. Together, we can make Ireland’s heritage accessible to all. Until next time, keep exploring and celebrating our shared history.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh as éisteacht linn, thank you very much for listening!

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What is folklore, really? Is it just old stories, or is it something much more alive, shaping who we are today? In this episode of the WCI Podcast we sit down with Fáin, a folklorist, oral storyteller, and multimedia creator, to explore the living, evolving nature of folklore—and how we can all engage with it.

Fáin, who studied under the legendary Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, has worked with the National Leprechaun Museum and now shares Irish folklore through YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch, where they combine traditional storytelling with open knowledge advocacy. We discuss everything from colonial influences on folklore, the hidden histories of Ireland, and even how folklore shapes national identity and cultural resistance.

As a judge for Wiki Loves Folklore 2025, Fáin also shares what they hope to see in this year’s photo and writing contests. If you're interested in folklore, open knowledge, or storytelling, this episode is packed with insights, untold stories, and ways you can get involved in preserving and sharing our cultural heritage.

📷 Want to take part in Wiki Loves Folklore?
Submit your photos and articles before March 31st!
🔗 Find out more at wikimedia.ie

🎧 Listen now and join the conversation!

Fáin is Hog and Dice on Socials @hoganddice (Twitch, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

Books Mentioned:

‘Locating Irish Folklore’ - Diarmuid Ó Giolláin

'The Festival of Brigit' by Séamas Ó Catháin

Stone lifting account mentioned: @IndianaStones

Welcome to the Wikimedia community Ireland podcast, your portal to free knowledge and Irish culture.

Intro contains Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/achaidh-cheide
License code: JBQCMVAHZIMU692D

Sign up to our newsletter at wikimedia.ie or follow us on social media @wikimediaie to keep up to date with upcoming events all over Ireland in 2025!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share it with your friends or on social media. Together, we can make Ireland’s heritage accessible to all. Until next time, keep exploring and celebrating our shared history.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh as éisteacht linn, thank you very much for listening!

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We are delighted to be kicking off the new year with Pauline Cummins for Art+Feminism.

Art+Feminism is an International Wikimedia Campaign that dares us to imagine and initiate a more equal world, starting with the internet. The vision of the Art+Feminism Project is to actively create an internet that reflects diverse global histories of art-making, where communities who have most often been written out of history feel welcome and empowered to participate in writing (and righting) stories.

In this episode, we are joined by Pauline Cummins, an Irish sculptor, painter, performance and video artist from Dublin, currently based in Rua Red. Cummins was previously a lecturer at the National College of Art and Design and was the founding chairperson of the Women Artists Action Group. Her performance and video work examines the human condition from a feminist perspective. Her practice explores themes of the political body, activism, human rights and gender.

She tells us about how she helped set up the Women Artists Action Group in 1987 in response to the exclusion women artists faced at that time. She explains that community and international collaboration were key in advocating for women's rights along with a healthy dose of stubborn determination!

We also discuss the impact that our current digital landscape is having on art and together we envision what a truly feminist internet would look like.

If you are looking for an inspiring conversation that is sure to replenish your determination to fight for what you believe in then this is the episode for you!

• To learn more about the international Art+Feminism Campaign please visit artandfeminism.org
• To find out more about Cummins' work and upcoming shows please visit PaulineCummins.com

Welcome to the Wikimedia community Ireland podcast, your portal to free knowledge and Irish culture.

Intro contains Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/kevin-macleod/achaidh-cheide
License code: JBQCMVAHZIMU692D

Sign up to our newsletter at wikimedia.ie or follow us on social media @wikimediaie to keep up to date with upcoming events all over Ireland in 2025!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast, leave a review, and share it with your friends or on social media. Together, we can make Ireland’s heritage accessible to all. Until next time, keep exploring and celebrating our shared history.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh as éisteacht linn, thank you very much for listening!