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 Finno-Ugric Data Sharing Space

We are building a trustworthy, AI-supported data-sharing space to connect tangible and intangible elements of the Finno-Ugric cultural universes—textiles, music, oral history, photography, and language. This platform explores legal, organizational, semantic, and technical challenges while offering new governance models for community-based digital curation.

Rather than replicating established Wikipedia methods, we work with structured data tools like Wikibase, Lexemes, and SPARQL. Our approach centers multilinguality, shared custodianship, and the ability of communities—Võro, Seto, Livonian, Mari, and others—to describe their own heritage on their terms.

🌍 What is This Platform?

This experimental knowledge graph helps small and endangered language communities:

Document and connect culturally significant materials (songs, clothing, places, people).
Create multilingual, multimodal metadata in structured formats.
Model heritage semantically without needing full encyclopedic coverage.
Try new digital curation workflows in a low-risk, unaffiliated environment.

The platform is not owned by any national institution and is open for scholars, curators, and communities to test metadata enrichment, federated linking, and feedback models that large systems rarely permit.

For more context, see our graphical browser or subscribe to our blog or just check out our instagram account for a first impression. For a more professional, digital heritage-based presentation read our publication preprint, visit the project page or check out slide presentation.

🎵 Collections by Type

Databases

LīvMDb - the Livonian Music Database: a collection of musical works, songs, print music and sound recordings connected to the Livonian language or the Livonian Coast.

Musical Works

Explore works sung in Finno-Ugric languages or belonging to their musical traditions: Livonian • Mari • Finnish • Hungarian • Komi • Udmurt • Estonian • Erzya Moksha • Khanty Mansi • Samoyedic • Veps • Saami

Sound Recordings (Spotify Playlists)

Curated playlists of Finno-Ugric music—traditional and contemporary: Livonian • Mari • Finnish • Hungarian • Komi • Udmurt • Estonian • Erzya Moksha • Khanty Mansi • Samoyedic • Veps • Saami • Karelian

We are inviting new curators knowledgeable about the traditional or contemporary music of these communities.

📸 Photographs

Livonian Photography Collection (21st century):

Contemporary photographs under Creative Commons licenses, each tagged with ISCC codes for digital traceability.

Livonian Historical Photography Collection:

Historical photography focused on Livonian speakers in Northern Courland and the Livonian Coast.

Seto Historical Photography Collection:

Curated by Daniel Antal and Dr. Ieva Pigozne. Includes multilingual metadata and community annotations. May be used as a primary photographic collection, or as secondary source for other areas, including 🧵garments (see below.)

Where possible, we present both original and enhanced versions of images. Post-processing supports textile research and educational use without compromising historical integrity.

🧵 Garments

Traditional Livonian Clothing Collection:

Traditional garments worn by Livonians from from the Northern Kurzeme region (Latvia), showcasing weaving, color, and cut diversity.

Traditional Seto Clothing Collection:

Historical and ceremonial garments from Setomaa with detailed annotations. Includes primary sources (see kitasnik pinafore dress (STM SSM 782 E) and secondary sources (see the original ethnographic photograph Seto men in the village of Võmmorski in Setomaa municipality (ERM Fk 213:146) and the derivative work: Trousers of a Seto man in the village of Võmmorski in Setomaa municipality (detail))

🎬 Films

Finno-Ugric Film Database (Soome-Ugri Filmiandmebaas):

We are enhancing this foundational database with semantic metadata. Examples include:

Feature films

Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari: A Russian drama directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko, filmed in the Mari language and inspired by traditional folklore (2012).

Documentaries

Browse the documentary collection →

The Land of Love: A Nenets-language documentary by Liivo Niglas (2014).
Tõnis Day in Setumaal: An Estonian language television documentary by Maie Maasikas (1993).

Short films

Browse the short film collection →

The Afflicted Animal: A Northern Sámi short film by Egil Pedersen (2016).
To Speak is to Resist: A Komi-language short film by Taawetti Erkinpoika Myrskyvalkea (2024).

Newsreels & Archives

Browse the audiovisual archive collection →

🗣️ Language & Lexemes

Can machines understand dreams across languages?

English: dream
Hungarian: álom
Estonian: unenägu
Dutch: droom

By connecting senses of lexemes with their grammatical and semantic behavior, we model language-independent queries. See the Dream Playlist DHNB2025!

🧪 Try It, Change It

This is a sandbox for metadata innovation.

Test metadata enrichment on real items.
Experiment with multilingual reconnection.
Prototype governance workflows.

We invite GLAM institutions, researchers, and community curators to explore new models for cultural preservation.

> Real innovation comes not from new software—but from new participation.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:Dreams DNBH2025 Poster.jpg|thumb|You can download our poster in a higher resoultion on our [https://reprex.nl/event/2025-03-07_dreams/ event] page.]]
-<strong>We started experimenting with the legal, organisational, semantic and technical challenges of creating a genuinely trustworthy, AI-supported data-sharing space that can find and connect tangible and intangible elements of the Finno-Ugric cultural universes. We were also seeking a better governance model for oversight for the custodians of these endangered, shrinking universes in their language and with little technical knowledge, partly as alternatives to the established Wikipedia to the open knowledge incubation method for small linguistic minorities.</strong> See further details on the [https://reprex.nl/project/finnougricdataspace/ project description page].
-== Collections ==
+<div style="text-align:center;">
-==== Musical works ====
+  <strong><span style="font-size: 1.5em;">Finno-Ugric Data Sharing Space</span></strong>
-The following collections contain musical works that are almost always sung in the given language, in some cases, they belong to the musical tradition of these communities without lyrics.
+</div>
-[[Item:Q123|Khanty Mansi Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q136|Samoyedic Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q194|Livonian Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q266|Veps Musical Works Collection]] ;[[Item:Q324|Saami Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q2498|Komi Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q3721|Hungarian Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q3770|Finnish Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q2836|Mari Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q3090|Udmurt Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q3680|Estonian Musical Works Collection]]; [[Item:Q2632|Erzya Moksha Musical Works Collection]]
+[[File:Dreams DNBH2025 Poster.jpg|right|thumb|You can download our poster in high resolution on our [https://reprex.nl/event/2025-03-07_dreams/ event page].]]
-==== Sound recordings ====
+<strong>We are building a trustworthy, AI-supported data-sharing space to connect tangible and intangible elements of the Finno-Ugric cultural universes—textiles, music, oral history, photography, and language. This platform explores legal, organizational, semantic, and technical challenges while offering new governance models for community-based digital curation.</strong>
-The following collections as playlist contain sound recordings of the musical works, you can listen to them on Spotify. We will keep adding other listening options on YouTube, Bandcamp or other licensed players. [[Item:Q117|Khanti Mansi Playlist]]; [[Item:Q118|Samoyedic Playlist]]; [[Item:Q193|Livonian Playlist]]; [[Item:Q265|Veps Playlist]]; [[Item:Q323|Saami Playlist]]; [[Item:Q3720|Hungarian Playlist]]; [[Item:Q3769|Finnish Playlist]]; [[Item:Q2835|Mari Playlist]]; [[Item:Q3089|Udmurt Playlist]]; [[Item:Q3679|Estonian Playlist]]; [[Item:Q2497|Komi Playlist]]; [[Item:Q2631|Erzya Moksha Playlist]].
-*We are inviting new curators knowledgeable about the traditional or contemporary music of these peoples and languages.
-==== Photographs ====
+Rather than replicating established Wikipedia methods, we work with structured data tools like Wikibase, Lexemes, and SPARQL. Our approach centers multilinguality, shared custodianship, and the ability of communities—Võro, Seto, Livonian, Mari, and others—to describe their own heritage on their terms.
-[[File:Pedestrian Path to Cape Kolka and the Baltic Sea thumbnail.jpg|left|thumb|180x180px|The mission of the collection is to connect historical and contemporary photographs in various private and public collections.]]
-* [[Livonian Photography Collection (21st century)]]: contemporary photography collection, available with a CC license on Wikimedia Commons.The photographs are identified with the new ISO standard ISCC coded ([[Item:Q896|Livonian Photography Collection (21st century; database link)]].
-* [[Seto Historical Photography Collection]]: The virtual collection of the Finno-ugric Dataspace about the culture of Setomaa and the Seto people. In the database, the collection page is [[Item:Q3906|Seto Historical Photography Collection (database)]]. The collection is curated by Daniel Antal and Ieva Pigozne; we are inviting new curators familiar with Setomaa or the culture of the Seto people.
-* We are inviting new curators knowledgeable about the cultural regions, landscapes, cultures and languages of our collections, currently focusing on the Seto,  Liv, Võru, Mari and Udmurt peoples.
-* In some cases, we provide the original (digitised) items from the original holding collection together with derivate works. The derivate works may include digital retouching and postprocessing to make the photograph more usable as a historical source. In such cases, we make corrections that a contemporary photographer would have done, like removing physical damages on the photographic material, the print, or correcting the overblown highlights or underexposed shadows. Such changes make, for example, the original patterns of a garment more visible for textile research. Sometimes we may crop an original (depicted) item of interest, for example, a detail of a particular garment worn by a figure in the original picture.
-* In some cases, we appy an improved sharpening mask of the photograph, or slight exposure correction. Such changes are not considered as derivate work, they are part of a postprocessing process that museum archivists often do not have the equipment or time for. These changes provide a more faithful representation of the historical photographic artifact as they were photographed by the museum.
-==== Garments ====
-* [[Item:Q1099|Kurzeme Region Dress History Collection]]
+== 🌍 What is This Platform? ==
-* [[Seto Garment Collection]] - a collection of textiles and garments from Seetoma, historical and contemporary sources.
-Films
-* [[Item:Q4054|Finno-Ugric Film Database]] - a database of Finno-Ugric films, we have just started the reprocessing and enrichment of this database. It is not yet available in our system.
+This experimental knowledge graph helps small and endangered language communities:
-== Linguistics (Lexeme) ==
+* Document and connect culturally significant materials (songs, clothing, places, people).
-[[File:Dreams playlist for DHNB2025..png|left|frameless|A playlist curated by Hõimulõimed with songs in the Dream Playlist Dhnb by Hõimulõimed in various Finno-Ugric languages]]
+* Create multilingual, multimodal metadata in structured formats.
-The concept of a [[Item:Q2|dream]] is independent from languages, in the sense "imaginary events seen in the mind while sleeping" it can be expressed with the English [[Lexeme:L1|dream]], the Hungarian [[Lexeme:L2|álom]] or the Estonian [[Lexeme:L3|unenägu]] or the Dutch [[d:Lexeme:L1149861|droom]] nouns. These lexemes behave differently. In Dutch, they it has a masculine grammatical gender. The Hungarian and Estonian lexemes change their forms when you say in your dream. The identification of a dream as a subject of a song lyrics requires the understanding how dream becomes dreams in English, dromen in Dutch, and álmok in Hungarian. If you want to describe the lyrics in statements, you must know that *álmodban* is a form of [[Lexeme:L2|álom]], which refers translates to *in your dream*, i.e., expressing both an adjective and clarifying the owner of the subject, too.
+* Model heritage semantically without needing full encyclopedic coverage.
+* Try new digital curation workflows in a low-risk, unaffiliated environment.
-Connecting the senses of lexemes with their translations, we can carry out language independent queries for songs that are about dreams. See our [[Item:Q3714|Dream Playlist DHNB2025]]!
+The platform is not owned by any national institution and is open for scholars, curators, and communities to test metadata enrichment, federated linking, and feedback models that large systems rarely permit.
-==== Films ====
-The following collection contains films by Finno-Ugric creators or films in Finno-Ugric languages.
+For more context, see our graphical browser or subscribe to our [https://open.substack.com/pub/finnougric/p/mari-clothing-heritage-across-collections?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web blog] or just check out our [https://www.instagram.com/finnougricnet/ instagram account] for a first impression. For a more professional, digital heritage-based presentation read our [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17938081 publication preprint], visit the [https://reprex.nl/project/finnougricdataspace/ project page] or check out [https://reprex.nl/slides/20250306_dreams/ slide presentation].
-Most of these films are part of the Finno-Ugric Film Database (www.sufa.ee) which belongs to the Finno-Ugric-Film-Foundation.
-[[Item:Q4079|Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari]]
+== 🎵 Collections by Type ==
-[[Item:Q4088|The land of love]]
+Databases
-[[Item:Q4096|The Afflicted Animal]]
-== Getting started ==
+LīvMDb - the [[Item:Q4747|Livonian Music Database]]: a collection of musical works, songs, print music and sound recordings connected to the Livonian language or the Livonian Coast.
-* [[mediawikiwiki:Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ|MediaWiki FAQ]]
+=== Musical Works ===
+Explore works sung in Finno-Ugric languages or belonging to their musical traditions:
+[[Item:Q194|Livonian]] • [[Item:Q2836|Mari]] • [[Item:Q3770|Finnish]] • [[Item:Q3721|Hungarian]] • [[Item:Q2498|Komi]] • [[Item:Q3090|Udmurt]] • [[Item:Q3680|Estonian]] • [[Item:Q2632|Erzya Moksha]] • [[Item:Q123|Khanty Mansi]] • [[Item:Q136|Samoyedic]] • [[Item:Q266|Veps]] • [[Item:Q324|Saami]]
+=== Sound Recordings (Spotify Playlists) ===
+Curated playlists of Finno-Ugric music—traditional and contemporary:
+[[Item:Q193|Livonian]] • [[Item:Q2835|Mari]] • [[Item:Q3769|Finnish]] • [[Item:Q3720|Hungarian]] • [[Item:Q2497|Komi]] • [[Item:Q3089|Udmurt]] • [[Item:Q3679|Estonian]] • [[Item:Q2631|Erzya Moksha]] • [[Item:Q117|Khanty Mansi]] • [[Item:Q118|Samoyedic]] • [[Item:Q265|Veps]] • [[Item:Q323|Saami]] • [[Item:Q6775|Karelian]]
+''We are inviting new curators knowledgeable about the traditional or contemporary music of these communities.''
+== 📸 Photographs ==
+[[File:Pedestrian Path to Cape Kolka and the Baltic Sea thumbnail.jpg|left|thumb|180x180px|Connecting past and present through photographic metadata.]]
+* '''[[Item:Q896|Livonian Photography Collection (21st century)]]''':
+Contemporary photographs under Creative Commons licenses, each tagged with ISCC codes for digital traceability.
+* '''[[Item:Q4665|Livonian Historical Photography Collection]]''':
+Historical photography focused on Livonian speakers in Northern Courland and the Livonian Coast.
+* '''[[Seto Historical Photography Collection]]''':
+Curated by Daniel Antal and Dr. Ieva Pigozne. Includes multilingual metadata and community annotations. May be used as a primary photographic collection, or as secondary source for other areas, including 🧵''garments'' (see below.)
+Where possible, we present both original and enhanced versions of images. Post-processing supports textile research and educational use without compromising historical integrity.
+== 🧵 Garments ==
+[[File:FUDS Q4633 preview.jpg|thumb|[[Item:Q4633|Seto female festive shirt (SU4106:97)]]]]
+* '''[[Item:Q1099|Traditional Livonian Clothing Collection]]''':
+Traditional garments worn by Livonians from from the Northern Kurzeme region (Latvia), showcasing weaving, color, and cut diversity.
+* '''[[Traditional Seto Clothing Collection]]''':
+Historical and ceremonial garments from Setomaa with detailed annotations. Includes primary sources (see [[Item:Q4370| kitasnik pinafore dress (STM SSM 782 E)]] and secondary sources (see the original ethnographic photograph [[Item:Q4044|Seto men in the village of Võmmorski in Setomaa municipality (ERM Fk 213:146)]] and the derivative work: [[Item:Q4051|Trousers of a Seto man in the village of Võmmorski in Setomaa municipality (detail)]])
+== 🎬 Films ==
+'''[[Finno-Ugric Film Database| Finno-Ugric Film Database (Soome-Ugri Filmiandmebaas)]]''':
+We are enhancing this foundational database with semantic metadata.
+Examples include:
+==== Feature films ====
+* [[Item:Q4079|Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari]]: A Russian drama directed by Aleksei Fedorchenko, filmed in the Mari language and inspired by traditional folklore (2012).
+==== Documentaries ====
+[[Item:Q4108|Browse the documentary collection →]]
+* [[Item:Q4088|The Land of Love]]: A Nenets-language documentary by Liivo Niglas (2014).
+* [[Item:Q4101|Tõnis Day in Setumaal]]: An Estonian language television documentary by Maie Maasikas (1993).
+==== Short films ====
+[[Item:Q4109|Browse the short film collection →]]
+* [[Item:Q4096|The Afflicted Animal]]: 	A Northern Sámi short film by Egil Pedersen (2016).
+* [[Item:Q4100|To Speak is to Resist]]: A Komi-language short film by Taawetti Erkinpoika Myrskyvalkea (2024).
+==== Newsreels & Archives ====
+[[Item:Q4106|Browse the audiovisual archive collection →]]
+== 🗣️ Language & Lexemes ==
+[[File:Dreams playlist for DHNB2025..png|right|frameless|A playlist curated by Hõimulõimed with songs in the Dream Playlist Dhnb by Hõimulõimed in various Finno-Ugric languages]]
+Can machines understand dreams across languages?
+* English: [[Lexeme:L1|dream]]
+* Hungarian: [[Lexeme:L2|álom]]
+* Estonian: [[Lexeme:L3|unenägu]]
+* Dutch: [https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Lexeme:L1149861 droom]
+By connecting senses of lexemes with their grammatical and semantic behavior, we model language-independent queries.
+See the [[Item:Q3714|Dream Playlist DHNB2025]]!
+== 🧪 Try It, Change It ==
+This is a sandbox for metadata innovation.
+* Test metadata enrichment on real items.
+* Experiment with multilingual reconnection.
+* Prototype governance workflows.
+''We invite GLAM institutions, researchers, and community curators to explore new models for cultural preservation.''
+> Real innovation comes not from new software—but from new participation.
+== 🧭 Start Here ==
+* [https://reprex.nl/project/finnougricdataspace/ Project Overview]
+* [https://reprex.nl/project/finnougricdataspace/ Digital Dreams And Practices-DNBH 2025 presentation]  and [https://reprex.nl/slides/20250306_dreams/ Slide Presentation]
+* [[mediawikiwiki:Special:MyLanguage/Manual:FAQ|MediaWiki FAQ]]
+* [[Special:Search|Search the database]]
+* [[Special:AllPages|Explore all items]]