The Wiki Cagar Budaya 3.0 series represents a regional language Wikipedia project supported by a Rapid Fund grant from the Wikimedia Foundation that focuses on documenting cultural heritage across West Java and Banten, Indonesia. Through a partnership between the Wikimedia Bandung Community and the Kuluwung Community, a recent WikiLatih training session in Tasikmalaya successfully engaged local participants to edit and publish foundational digital records for historical sites in the region.
Why West Java and Banten Cultural Heritage Matters for Sundanese Wikipedia
According to project documentation, the initiative specifically targets buildings, sites, and cultural structures scattered throughout West Java and Banten because these historical assets suffer from a lack of adequate digital documentation and online articles. Writing these entries in the Sundanese Wikipedia serves a dual purpose. It preserves historical information regarding neglected local landmarks while actively maintaining the presence and vitality of the Sundanese language within the digital realm.
Training Dynamics in Tasikmalaya: Enthusiasm Meets Structural Obstacles
Held in Tasikmalaya, the training brought together approximately 15 participants from diverse backgrounds, including university students, teachers, local cultural activists, and high school students with a strong interest in writing. Trainers observed palpable enthusiasm from the beginning of the workshop. However, turning that raw energy into polished encyclopedic articles exposed notable hurdles.
The primary barrier involved reference materials. Because the history of many local cultural heritages is passed down primarily through oral traditions, finding reliable, verifiable written sources that satisfy strict Wikipedia standards proved difficult. Furthermore, participants faced linguistic hurdles. Writing in everyday Sundanese differs sharply from using standard, neutral encyclopedic Sundanese. Workshop attendees engaged in extensive discussions regarding the selection of appropriate equivalent words and technical terms, particularly given the rich diversity of regional dialects known as “Basa Sunda Wewengkon.”
Celebrating Published Articles and Expanding Volunteer Networks
Despite technical barriers and linguistic hurdles, the determination of the participants allowed them to successfully publish new content. Trainers guided attendees as they clicked the “Publish” (Terbitkeun) button for the first time, resulting in the creation and development of roughly 15 new articles dedicated to regional cultural heritage. Notable new entries launched during the event include Bumi Ageung Cikidang, Pendopo Tasikmalaya, and Masjid H. Bakri Tasikmalaya, all of which are cataloged under the official category for the workshop series.
Organizers emphasize that this event validates synergy as a core driver for the broader Wikimedia movement. By combining financial support from Wikimedia Indonesia through the Wiki Cagar Budaya 3.0 initiative with grassroots mobilization from the Wikimedia Bandung Community and the Kuluwung Community, the project successfully enriched the article repository on the Sundanese Wikipedia while cultivating a fresh cohort of dedicated local volunteers.
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