TAG: Name writing in public space

TAG: name writing in public space - Conference proceedings, Hamburg 2023

This volume contains the contributions to the "Tag Conference Hamburg 2023" and documents new research findings presented by speakers from 14 countries. The conference took place on June 29 and 30, 2023, at the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte and was organized in cooperation with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures at the University of Hamburg.

Founded in 2017, the Tag Conference is considered the world's most important academic platform for the study of contemporary graffiti. The year 2023 marked a special milestone for the conference, with its US debut (Brooklyn) and the Hamburg event. Presented alongside the Unlock Book Fair as part of the exhibition EINE STADT WIRD BUNT (A CITY BECOMES COLOURFUL), the conference aims to build lasting bridges between subculture and academia.

This publication documents the historic conference and serves as a resource for future research on name-writing in public space.

This volume contains contributions to the conference from the following speakers:

• The Tag Collector: “Archiving the ephemeral”
• Gauri Paprikar & Mayukh Gosavi: “Information barrage through public name-writing”
• Polina Stohnushko: “This Is Our War: The case of an anti-solidarity graffiti campaign in Berlin”
• Kathleen Göttsche: “OZ said”
• Mohamed N. El-Barbary, Mariko Ikeda & Ondřej Škrabal: “New approach to the documentation of the tagging subculture in Tokyo”
• Orestis Pangalos: “Collectivity in individual name-writing”
• Katharina Tyran: “Naš kraj – Our hood: Names and tags in South Slavic varieties in the public space of Vienna”
• Sanja Ewald: “From the First Sketch? On the Visibility and Absence of the Tag in the Blackbook”
• Anna Nistratova: “Carved tags: Contemporary graffiti on rocks by Russian street artists”
• Rory Maley: “Object Infinity: Obsession, mania, and living forever in the underground”
• Rashi Karkoon: “Erasing heritage through love markings”
• Tobias Barenthin Lindblad: “Building history: How to collect, archive, and catalog memories”

Editor: Javier Abarca

Authors: Javier Abarca, The Tag Collector, Gauri Paprikar, Mayukh Gosavi, Polina Stohnushko, Kathleen Göttsche, Mohamed N. El-Barbary, Mariko Ikeda, Ondřej Škrabal, Orestis Pangalos, Katharina Tyran, Sanja Ewald, Anna Nistratova, Rory Maley, Rashi Karkoon, Tobias Barenthin Lindblad.

Publisher: Double-H Publishing, Hamburg (2025)

Paperback with thread stitching . 128 pages. Language: English.
Dimensions: 29.7 x 21 x 1.5 cm (A4).

Typography: Helvetica Neue & Skolar.

Paper: Fine's pure rough 150 g/m².
Printed on HP indigo at Mediadruckwerk Hamburg.

ISBN 978-3-9824951-3-2.
Printed and bound in Hamburg / Germany.