Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei). Katsushika Hokusai ca. 1830–32. Metropolitan Museum. Public Domain.

The CC Open Culture Team is excited to announce a new webinar series, Open Culture Live. This series will feature conversations with experts on a number of topics, from the basics of open culture to discussions about traditional knowledge, artificial intelligence, respectful terminologies in collections, and more.  As a first session, we wanted to introduce…

Stephen Wyber from Open Culture Voices by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0

Did you know that access to cultural heritage is part of the UN Declaration of Human Rights? Stephen discusses this little known article among other important aspects of access, participation, and engagement of cultural heritage and the responsibilities of institutions in this regard. He also explains how Open Culture is a way to establish the…

Mauricio Genta from Open Culture Voices by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0

Mauricio says that “open access makes it easier for people to use what is a common good for all.” In this episode we dive into the work of a historian and librarian in Argentina. Mauricio discusses the value of cultural heritage preservation over generations and what role present day  institutions play for the future. Open…

Ellen Euler from Open Culture Voices by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0

Ellen shares that “by making cultural heritage openly available it can foster innovation and creativity.” This is a key aspect of why Ellen advocates for opening up cultural heritage and what drives her passion for open access in the cultural heritage sector. Open Culture VOICES is a series of short videos that highlight the benefits…

Kristy von Gogh from Open Culture Voices by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0

  “Opening up cultural artifacts from African organizations might change how we’re represented in online spaces” says Kirsty von Gogh from Johannesburg. She also shares how increasing production of culturally, linguistically, and contextually aware and relevant content can ensure a more representative digital space for Africans, and how open licensing increases accessibility to this content.…

Ivan Martinez from Open Culture Voices by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0

  “Open Access… is an amplification of the work that these institutions do” Ivan says in this episode. He also shares what unique challenges are faced by cultural heritage institutions in Mexico which has one of the longest copyright terms in the world: 100 years plus the lifetime of the creator or author Open Culture…

As part of our Open Culture Program, we at Creative Commons (CC) are exploring avenues to build momentum towards a UNESCO Recommendation on Open Culture. On 11 May, 2023, we hosted our first in-person Open Culture event, in Lisbon, Portugal. In this blog post, we look back at the day’s highlights and map out next…

International Museum Day 2023 Poster, International Council of Museums

It’s International Museum Day today, and at Creative Commons (CC), we are thrilled to celebrate museums under this year’s theme of Museums, Sustainability and Well-being.  Museums play an important role in sustainable development — they are in fact instrumental in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — and in supporting the well-being of…

Michal Čudrnák from Open Culture Voices by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0

  “If you’re considering opening up, start small” says Michal Čudrnák, the Head of Digital Collections at the Slovak National Gallery. When you open up just a small part first you will see what unfolds and can learn in the process what works for your community and what they interested in and how your community…

Laksmi Sugiri from Open Culture Voices by Creative Commons, CC BY 4.0

Laksmi says that “open access…makes it possible to collaborate and reconstruct cultural heritage.” In this episode we learn about cultural heritage in Indonesia and how open access has made it possible for organisations to work together and build out data sets and information about historical collections across the country. Open Culture VOICES is a series…