I've been directed to you by someone ("John D.") who saw my post about the WMPT project on Russian culture at the wikimedia-l. To make a long story
short: The WMF abruptly extended an (already unjustified) suspension of the
Portuguese chapter for more three months, and ruined all the funding for the
events scheduled for that period of time, including two key national-scope GLAM
and FOSS events scheduled to happen later this month [0], so we are desperately
trying to find other sources of funding to try to save those events.
When I found
out that next 13 November the Russian Federation Embassy will going to open a
special 1 day consulate service here in Funchal (where I live) [1], and
recalling a small pilot project we have done with the Russian Wikipedia at our last
Art+Feminism event, our organization of the ongoing
Wikipedia Asian Month contest - and considering a large part of Russia is in Asia, the old
relation of friendship between Portugal and Russia, with a special influence
in the Island where I live (Madeira Island), which has a significant amount of
tourists, expatriates and a number of cultural relations with Russia[2], and
specially the very recent opening of the first Russian School in Funchal [3] (and the curious fact that
the fact that the founder of WMPT is Russian by birth himself!)
it
seemed a great opportunity to start a project about Russian culture here, and on
the way try to save those events, and get the funding for more Wikimedia activities, without being so
dependent on the WMF for everything - which, as we are feeling on our skins, has
tragic consequences.
So I 've
contacted the embassy, and I expect to meet the consulate here next 13 November
(or someone will meet the ambassador in Lisbon next week, I'll have an answer
next Monday), to see what is their openness for this project, also hoping we'll get some funding to carry on the events of 23-27 with the support of the
Embassy or any other entity. We are really trying everything to save those key events, not only because of their importance on the promotion of Free Knowledge in Portugal, but because cancelling them at this point will cause significant damage for the Wikimedia movement here in Portugal.
I'm writing to you mainly for two reasons - to invite you to participate in the long term project about Russian culture, and to ask you if you have any idea that would help us saving these events in the short term, even with a fraction of that (already little) funding. I apologize for the urgence of the call, but this all been very sudden. Nobody expected an extension of that WMF suspension on us, and even less that it would carry with it the suspension of individual grants, so we were caught totally unprepared.