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A Vancouver art gallery is making surewomen get their due on the world's largest online encyclopaedia.

The Belkin Art Gallery is hosting a Wikipedia 'edit-a-thon'. The goal is to create more pages celebrating the accomplishments of women, particularly femaleartists a demographic that the gallery's coordinator AlexandraBischoffsays is widely underrepresented.

"Less than 10 per cent ofWikipediaeditors identify as female," Bischofftold stand-inhost Gloria Macarenko on CBC'sOn the Coast, citing the figures from activist group Art + Feminism. "These events areessentiallyan effort to bolster female representation on thewebsite, and also to encourage more women to become editors."

The 'edit-a-thon' at the Belkin Art Gallery is one of many happening across the globe. The events areaffiliated with Art + Feminism, a group founded by New York-based artists includingUBC alumnusJacqueline Mabey.

"It is an openinvitationfor women to come together and work on pages that they would like to see created for Wikipedia," said Bischoff.

Art + Feminism began organizing the annual 'edit-a-thons' in 2014, after recognizing that the bulk of Wikipedia articles pertain to male subjects, and are edited by male users.

Alexandra Bischoff, program coordinator of the Belkin Art Gallery, says participants in the 'edit-a-thon' will be provided with books and catalogues to research their desired female artists. (CBC)

Bischoffsays the gender disparity "stems from the fact that coding and programming are traditionally considered to be male dominated industries," adding that Wikipedia's interface was long inaccessible for people who were uneducated in the trade.

"Alack of femaleeditorsnaturallywill lead to a skewed representation on the platform, in any field."

Bischoff says many accomplished female artists are notable absent from the platform but the group hopes to change that. The art gallery will begin their 'edit-a-thons' onMarch 18and hopes to create up to 15 new pages.

With files from CBC's On the Coast

To listen to the full interview, click on the audio labelled:Women get far less recognition on Wikipedia than men, and a group of artists are tired of it

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Women get far less recognition on Wikipedia than men, and a group ... - CBC.ca