TAG: name writing in public space

This volume presents the proceedings from The Tag Conference Hamburg 2023, capturing new research presented by speakers from 14 countries. The conference was held in June 29-30 at the Museum of Hamburg History and organized in collaboration with Hamburg University's Center for the Study of Manuscript Cultures.

Launched in 2017, The Tag Conference is the world's premiere academic platform studying contemporary graffiti. The year 2023 marked a milestone for the conference, with a US debut in Brooklyn and this Hamburg gathering. The event—together with the Unlock Book Fair—was presented as part of the exhibition EINE STADT WIRD BUNT, aiming to build lasting bridges between subculture and academia.

This publication serves as both a record of this historic conference and a resource for future research in the field of name-writing in public space.

• The Tag Collector: “Archiving the ephemeral”
• Gauri Paprikar & Mayukh Gosavi: “Information barrage through public name-writing”
• Polina Stohnushko: “Das Ist Unser Krieg: 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: “Von der ersten Skizze an? Über die Sichtbarkeit und Abwesenheit des Tags im 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 catalogue memories”