TAG Conference

Photo: TAG Conference

‘TAG: Name Writing in Public Space’ is the spearhead event in graffiti studies. In 2023, the conference came to Hamburg for the first time, as part of the programme accompanying the exhibition ‘EINE STADT WIRD BUNT’ and in partnership with CSMC.

The phenomenon of ‘tagging’ – leaving one’s name in public spaces – is attracting increasing academic interest. The TAG conference is the most important international conference on this topic and brings researchers together with ‘writers’ from the scene every year. After editions in Berlin, Amsterdam, Cologne, and Modena, the conference came to Hamburg this year in cooperation with UWA as part of the exhibition ‘EINE STADT WIRD BUNT’ (‘A City Becomes Colourful’).

The kick-off took place on 29 June in the atrium of the Hamburg State and University Library (SUB), featuring keynote lectures by graffiti experts Matthew Champion, Susan Philips, and main organiser Javier Abarca. Further presentations on 30 June and 1 July took place at the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte (Museum for Hamburg History). The talks covered a whole range of forms of name-writing, from the marks left underground by Australian urban explorers to unique local tagging traditions from India, Russia, and Spain, and Hamburg.