THE TAG CONFERENCE
GRONINGEN 2024
FRAMING GRAFFITI HERITAGE
25—27 OCTOBER 2024
➽ MUSEUM AAN DE A
➽ MINERVA ART ACADEMY, HANZE UNIVERSITY
➽ OUDE RKZ
DIANA OZON, DUTCH GRAFFITI LIBRARY, MICK LA ROCK, FRANÇOIS CHASTANET, PIETRO RIVASI, TOBIAS BARENTHIN LINDBLAD, CHRISTIAN OMODEO, NICOLAS GZELEY, JAVIER ABARCA & MORE ★ PLUS WALKS, READINGS & MORE
THE TAG CONFE-
RENCE
GRONINGEN 2024
FRAMING GRAFFITI HERITAGE
25—27 OCTOBER 2024
➽ MUSEUM AAN DE A
➽ MINERVA ART ACADEMY, HANZE UNIVERSITY
➽ OUDE RKZ
DIANA OZON, DUTCH GRAFFITI LIBRARY, MICK LA ROCK, FRANÇOIS CHASTANET, PIETRO RIVASI, TOBIAS BARENTHIN LINDBLAD, CHRISTIAN OMODEO, NICOLAS GZELEY, JAVIER ABARCA & MORE ★ PLUS WALKS, READINGS & MORE
The Tag Conference partners with Groningen-based Kladmuur Foundation in a unique event set to lay the ground for the emerging working field of graffiti heritage.
The conference features an all-star line-up of international speakers, plus an extended program of cutting-edge heritage projects that delve into the rich history of Groningen graffiti.
Come to Groningen and celebrate the closing of the Dutch National History Month with three days of world-class lectures at outstanding venues, unique city walks, rare books, art interventions and graffiti nerd socialising. Don’t miss it!
FRAMING THE FIELD OF GRAFFITI HERITAGE
As contemporary graffiti completes six decades of history, more specialists across the world move towards recording, cataloging and preserving its legacy.
This new Tag Conference brings together the main international actors in this emerging working field —archivists, scholars, calligraphers and other specialists— and lays the groundwork for the discussion of the present and future of graffiti heritage.
The program of lectures is packed with renowned international speakers, and will be hosted by both Minerva Art Academy (Hanze University) and Museum aan de A — a heritage museum hosted at the oldest brick building in Groningen, dating from the 17th century.
The Tag Conference Groningen 2024 is developed in proud partnership with Groninger Archieven.
LECTURES BY INTERNATIONAL GUEST SPEAKERS
The conference revolves around two days of lectures and panels with guest speakers from across Europe working in a range of approaches to graffiti heritage.
Friday lectures will take place at the beautiful Groene Zaal auditorium at Minerva Art Academy.
On Saturday we will move to the large engine room at Museum aan de A, where the talks will share space with a new site-specific installation by Dutch artist Gabriel Lester.
During breaks at the Museum you can check out rare graffiti publications at our Book Showcase and enjoy our exhibition in the courtyard. The show features large-scale reproductions of images from Kladmuur’s historical archive.
Both venues are conveniently located in the city centre.
SOCIAL PROGRAM
The conference boasts a diverse program featuring much more than lectures. Enjoy yourself and network with other international graffiti enthusiasts!
From DIY-augmented city walks in which graffiti heritage comes to life, to hanging out at the iconic ex-squat Oude RKZ, to discovering graffiti books at our Book Showcase — visitors are set for a full three-days of graffiti goodness.
Crowd pleasers Diana Ozon and Dumar NovYork will delight us in a first-ever public reading of graffiti literature. And don’t miss our exclusive garden-sprayer wall calligraphy demonstration by French graffiti scholar François Chastanet!
Keep reading for details about our packed program.
Quik at Groninger Museum, 1983.
NEW MURAL ARTWORK BY QUIK, THE GRONINGEN AND NEW YORK CITY LEGEND
Quik RTW is an iconic artist from the golden era of New York subway graffiti, as well as a Groningen legend. He moved to Groningen in the early 1990’s and settled there for years, becoming a cherished figure for local folklore.
Quik first came to the city in 1983 to show one of his paintings at Groninger Museum as part of an exhibition of fringe contemporary artists. It was the first time a canvas from a subway artist was hung in an art museum.
A few weeks later, in the following year, Quik took part in the groundbreaking show «Graffiti: Ten writers from New York», curated at the same museum by then-director Frans Haks.
The museum became known for its exhibitions of subway artists, in particular for the 1992 show «Coming from the Subway». In that occasion, Quik and local pioneer Mick La Rock painted a mural that became a milestone for the city.
The artist has returned to Groningen in early September as a special guest of the Tag Conference. Joining forces again with Mick La Rock, Quik has created a new mural artwork under Emma Viaduct, next to the Central Station, on the same wall where both artists left their art back in 1992.
SITE-SPECIFIC INSTALLATION BY ARTIST GABRIEL LESTER
Raised in Groningen, Gabriel Lester is a contemporary artist with a past in graffiti and hip hop cultures. He is known for his cut-and-paste composition techniques, films, scenographic artworks and public sculptures.
Lester’s practice is founded upon a diverse artistic background originating from years spent as a graffiti writer and tagger. His work has been shown internationally in galleries, museums and exhibitions such as the 55th Venice Biennale, the 13th Documenta and the 19th Sydney Biennale.
As a highlight of the Tag Conference, Lester will install a new, site-specific video artwork at Museum aan de A.
GARDEN-SPRAYER CALLIGRAPHY BY FRANÇOIS CHASTANET
French calligrapher and tagging specialist François Chastanet will offer an exclusive live demonstration of his experimental, large-scale letterform systems based on the garden sprayer as a writing tool.
Chastanet is known for his unique research into the calligraphic intricacies of contemporary tagging cultures. Merging his background in graffiti with his scholarly findings, Chastanet recently presented his own systematic approach to large-scale calligraphy on public surfaces.
PROJECTION-AUGMENTED HISTORICAL CITY WALKS
The traces of Groningen graffiti history and the contexts that framed its evolution will be explored in a series of DIY-augmented walks designed by Fiona van den Bergh, a local historian with a passion for subcultures.
These walks scout out particular spaces, buildings and walls where chapters of local graffiti history took place. They also visit the few remaining corners of the city where traces of graffiti from the 70’s and 80’s remain visible.
Yet this experience goes beyond regular tours. In these walks, history comes to life on the city walls through site-specific projections of archival photographs. The images are projected using customised theatre equipment.
The walks will be held twice a week over the month of October, with the last walks closing the program of the Tag Conference. They are produced in partnership with Alternative Groningen Tour.
READING OF GRAFFITI LITERATURE
We are proud to present the first-ever public reading of graffiti-related literature. Poet, performer and Dutch punk legend Diana Ozon joins conference host Dumar NovYork from Brooklyn to read a series of selected excerpts live on stage together with two local poets.
Although still a niche field, graffiti-related narrative and literature has been slowly gaining traction.
There is a whole intangible dimension to graffiti heritage —social and experiential aspects, methodologies— that only literature can capture, and graffiti practitioners across the world are writing about it.
Their work usually takes the form of short, first-person accounts of particular adventures and experiences, inserted in photo-oriented publications and sometimes compiled in full books. A few comic-books have been published as well.
The Tag Conference is proud to showcase this budding field in a public reading of excerpts taken from classic and recent texts, selected by North American specialist Edward Birzin.
The reading session will take place at Theater de Kapel, the long-running theatre at the ex-squat Oude RKZ, in collaboration with local poetry jam Poëzie Met! and poets Julian Harmens and Willemijn van de Walle.
RARE GRAFFITI BOOKS AT THE UNLOCK SHOWCASE
Books and zines are the first and foremost tools for the recording of graffiti heritage. The Unlock Graffiti Book Showcase brings to Groningen a selection of classic and recent titles for display and sale.
The Unlock Showcase is an ambassador to the Unlock Book Fair, the long-established international gathering of independent graffiti publishers and graffiti book lovers.
This time the Showcase welcomes Dutch publishers Chemistry and Stickit, and features contributions from two bookstores with a wide specialised catalogue — Mr. Graffiti from The Netherlands and Hitzerot from Berlin, who curates for the occasion a selection of books on graffiti heritage.
The Showcase will pop-up during our Friday evening program at Oude RKZ, and again during the Saturday of lectures at Museum aan de A. Don’t miss it!
One of the few known close-up photographs of the work of Pinox’82, the local all-city legend from the hooligan tagging era.
One of the few known close-up photographs of the work of Pinox’82, the all-city legend from the hooligan tagging era in Groningen.
AN INTERACTIVE MAP OF GRONINGEN’S GRAFFITI HERITAGE
The Kladmuur Foundation has compiled years of detailed study of Groningen’s graffiti history into an interactive map to be launched as part of the conference.
The map gives access to this local legacy through location-specific archival images and texts.
Some contents of the map will be accessible through QR codes installed along the path of the city walks.
➽ LAUNCH: OCTOBER 24th
MICROHISTORIES FROM GRONINGEN GRAFFITI
The conference unveils the results of a year-long research project into the untold stories from Groningen graffiti history. The project has been developed in partnership with Groninger Archieven.
Together with specialists in microhistory from Groninger Archieven, a total of 15 local graffiti figures from different decades have worked over the past year on a series of written accounts of some of their experiences.
The texts will be made public as part of the new interactive map of local graffiti history. Some excerpts will be presented during reading session on Friday evening.
The project has been headed by local archivist Hugo Engwerda from Kladmuur, who will introduce it in his talk on the conference’s opening day.
➽ LAUNCH: OCTOBER 24th
THE TAG CONFERENCE DIVES INTO THE RICH GRAFFITI HERITAGE OF GRONINGEN
Our extended program explores the local heritage of Groningen, a small provincial capital laying at a coastal corner of The Netherlands. The city’s uniquely long and rich graffiti legacy survives in a plethora of records.
The area is known for its sparse and economically-depressed population, as well as for the huge intake of students attracted by its many universities. For decades, Groningen has been fertile ground for youth subcultures.
Punk culture and tagging flourished there in the late 1970’s. Shortly after, local football hooligans adopted tagging and created a highly active movement that went all-city for years — something few other cities have witnessed.
This was followed in the mid 1980’s by a very early adoption of New York subcultures that would bring about belligerent readings of hip hop and graffiti.
In 1983, the Groninger Museum —then under visionary director Frans Haks— hosted the first-ever art-museum exhibition of canvases from New York subway artists.
The Museum went on to produce more pioneering exhibitions of subway artists, bringing a roster of legendary figures to Groningen and turning the city into one of the very first points of entry for New York graffiti in Europe.
ABOUT THE KLADMUUR FOUNDATION
The Kladmuur Foundation is a research powerhouse operating in the margins of Dutch culture and geography. The foundation studies the history of graffiti in Groningen from the period 1978 to 1992.
In the short years since its founding in 2021, Kladmuur has effectively pioneered the field of graffiti heritage through projects including a museum exhibition, an award-winning book and the production of the Unlock Book Fair in 2022.
This instalment of the Tag Conference celebrates the acquisition of Kladmuur’s archive by Groninger Archieven. The collection encompasses thousands of documents and objects related to local graffiti history.
Mick La Rock and Rammellzee at the opening of Rammellzee’s solo exhibiton at Groninger Museum, 1987.
Mick La Rock and Rammellzee at the opening of Rammellzee’s solo exhibiton at Groninger Museum, 1987.
SPEAKERS
➽ DIANA OZON | NL
Diana Ozon is a poet and performer, and one of the main characters from the founding years of punk and graffiti cultures in The Netherlands. Her personal archive of photographs and documents from the era is second-to-none and has been featured in museum exhibitions.
➽ DIANA OZON | NL | Diana Ozon is a poet and performer, and one of the main characters from the founding years of punk culture in The Netherlands. Her personal archive of photographs, fanzines and other documents from the era is second-to-none and has been featured in museum exhibitions.
➽ DUTCH GRAFFITI LIBRARY | NL
Run by a team of seasoned graffiti documenters, the DGL opens ground for a sound institutional approach to graffiti culture. In addition to their publishing work, the DGL recently launched a museum in Amsterdam showcasing their expansive archive of historical documents and objects.
➽ DUTCH GRAFFITI LIBRARY | NL | Run by a team of seasoned graffiti documenters, the DGL opens ground for a sound institutional approach to graffiti culture. In addition to their publishing work, the DGL recently launched a museum in Amsterdam showcasing their expansive archive of historical documents and objects.
➽ MICK LA ROCK | NL
Mick La Rock was one of the earliest Dutch graffiti artists, and works worldwide as an artist, curator and art consultant. She co-curated a groundbreaking exhibition on the history of Dutch graffiti at the Amsterdam Museum, and has published highly-specialised books about graffiti history.
➽ MICK LA ROCK | NL | Mick La Rock was one of the earliest Dutch graffiti artists, and works worldwide as an artist, curator and art consultant. She co-curated a groundbreaking exhibition on the history of Dutch graffiti at the Amsterdam Museum, and has published highly-specialised books about graffiti history.
➽ TOBIAS BARENTHIN LINDBLAD | SE
Barenthin is a pioneer of European graffiti publishing as well as the face of Dokument Press, the Stockholm-based imprint that founded the field. He lectures widely, and has authored many books and texts about underexplored chapters of Swedish and worldwide graffiti culture.
➽ TOBIAS BARENTHIN LINDBLAD | SE | Barenthin is a pioneer of European graffiti publishing as well as the face of Dokument Press, the Stockholm-based imprint that founded the field. He lectures widely, and has authored many books and texts about underexplored chapters of Swedish and worldwide graffiti culture.
➽ FRANÇOIS CHASTANET | FR
Chastanet is an architect, calligrapher, and a professor of typography and letter design at the Institut Supérieur des Arts de Toulouse. He is author of groundbreaking systematic studies of contemporary tagging cultures as schools of calligraphy, and has written seminal books in the field.
➽ FRANÇOIS CHASTANET | FR | Chastanet is an architect, calligrapher, and a professor of typography and letter design at the Institut Supérieur des Arts de Toulouse. He is author of groundbreaking systematic studies of contemporary tagging cultures as schools of calligraphy, and has written seminal books in the field.
➽ CHRISTIAN OMODEO | IT/FR
Omodeo is an art historian, author, and the founder and director of Paris-based Le Grand Jeu, one of the main bookstores specialised in graffiti. He has curated milestone exhibitions about graffiti and street art. Omodeo is also known as an expert in the field of graffiti book collecting.
➽ CHRISTIAN OMODEO | IT/FR | Omodeo is an art historian, author, and the founder and director of Paris-based Le Grand Jeu, one of the main bookstores specialised in graffiti. He has curated milestone exhibitions about graffiti and street art. Omodeo is also known as an expert in the field of graffiti book collecting.
➽ NICOLAS GZELEY | FR
Gzeley was an early figure in the world of graffiti and street art publishing. He is President of the Scientific and Artistic Committee of Arcanes (Centre National des Archives Numériques de l’Art Urbain), a state-funded digital archive dedicated to French graffiti and street art history.
➽ NICOLAS GZELEY | FR | Gzeley was an early figure in the world of graffiti and street art publishing. He is President of the Scientific and Artistic Committee of Arcanes (Centre National des Archives Numériques de l’Art Urbain), a state-funded digital archive dedicated to French graffiti and street art history.
➽ PIETRO RIVASI | IT
Rivasi is a pioneering street art curator and a sought-after specialised author. He is co-director or Urbaner, a municipality-funded platform for the study of subcultures in the region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Their graffiti-related work includes oral heritage and digitisation of archives.
➽ PIETRO RIVASI | IT | Rivasi is a pioneering street art curator and a sought-after specialised author. He is co-director or Urbaner, a municipality-funded platform for the study of subcultures in the region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Their graffiti-related work includes oral heritage and digitisation of archives.
➽ HANIA EL HOURY | LB/DE
PhD Hania El Houry is a Munich-based art historian and archivist working in the fringes of academia. Through years of unfaltering, self-supported work salvaging and studying discarded photo collections, El Houry has unearthed invaluable images from the early history of European graffiti.
➽ HANIA EL HOURY | LB/DE | PhD Hania El Houry is a Munich-based art historian and archivist working in the fringes of academia. Through years of unfaltering, self-supported work salvaging and studying discarded photo collections, El Houry has unearthed invaluable images from the early history of European graffiti.
➽ ORESTIS PANGALOS | GR
Pangalos was an influential pioneer of Greek graffiti and graffiti-related publishing, and today teaches for different Greek universities. His books about the history of graffiti in Greece laid ground for the trend of thoroughly-researched graffiti history books focused on cities and countries.
➽ ORESTIS PANGALOS | GR | Pangalos was an influential pioneer of Greek graffiti and graffiti-related publishing, and today teaches for different Greek universities. His books about the history of graffiti in Greece pioneered the trend of thoroughly-researched graffiti history books focused on cities and countries.
➽ STEVEN KOLSTEREN | NL
Steven Kolsteren is an art historian and former Head of Education at Groninger Museum. He was in charge of that position in 1984, when Frans Haks curated his milestone exhibition of New York subway artists at the Museum.
➽ STEVEN KOLSTEREN | NL | Steven Kolsteren is an art historian and former Head of Education at Groninger Museum. He was in charge of that position in 1984, when Frans Haks curated his milestone exhibition of New York subway artists at the Museum.
➽ BASTIAAN STEFFENS | NL
Bastiaan Steffens is an art historian and the Head of Exhibitions and Collections at Museum aan de A. He recently curated a museum exhibition on the historical graffiti found in the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Italy.
➽ BASTIAAN STEFFENS | NL | Bastiaan Steffens is an art historian and the Head of Exhibitions and Collections at Museum aan de A. He recently curated a museum exhibition on the historical graffiti found in the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Italy.
➽ SEBASTIAAN VOS | NL
Sebastiaan Vos is Collection Manager of Private Archives and Municipal Archivist at Groninger Archieven. He is specialised in the heritage of fringe cultures, and describes his approach as «activist archivism». Vos managed the acquisition of Kladmuur’s archive by Groningen Archieven.
➽ SEBASTIAAN VOS | NL | Sebastiaan Vos is Collection Manager of Private Archives and Municipal Archivist at Groninger Archieven. He is specialised in the heritage of fringe cultures, and describes his approach as «activist archivism». Vos managed the acquisition of Kladmuur’s archive by Groningen Archieven.
➽ HUGO ENGWERDA | NL
Hugo Engwerda is a designer with an MA in Art Teaching. He is a long-time researcher and teacher at Hanze University as well as an archivist at the Kladmuur Foundation, of which he is founder and director. Engwerda will present a new research project on the microhistories of Groningen graffiti.
➽ HUGO ENGWERDA | NL | Hugo Engwerda is a designer with an MA in Art Teaching. He is a long-time researcher and teacher at Hanze University as well as an archivist at the Kladmuur Foundation, of which he is founder and director. Engwerda will present a new research project on the microhistories of Groningen graffiti.
➽ JAVIER ABARCA | ES
Abarca is a leading critical voice in the field of graffiti and street art, as well as the founder and director of the Unlock Book Fair and the Tag Conference. A seasoned author, lecturer and educator, he recently published the first in-depth book on the history of graffiti and street art in Madrid.
➽ JAVIER ABARCA | ES | Abarca is a leading critical voice in the field of graffiti and street art, as well as the founder and director of the Unlock Book Fair and the Tag Conference. A seasoned author, lecturer and educator, he recently published the first in-depth book on the history of graffiti and street art in Madrid.
Phase 2 speaking at Groninger Museum in occasion of the collective exhibition «Coming from the Subway», 1992.
Phase 2 speaking at Groninger Museum in occasion of the collective exhibition «Coming from the Subway», 1992.
PROGRAM
Friday 25
Lectures
10am—3pm
Minerva Art Academy
Gedempte Zuiderdiep 158
Ticket: 10€
Limited seats, requires booking
➽ 10am
Welcome
➽ 10:20am
Opening talk
➽ 10:30am
Javier Abarca
➽ 11am
Hugo Engwerda
➽ 11:30am
Bastiaan Steffens
➽ 12pm
Lunch break
➽ 1pm
KEYNOTE
Hania El Houry
➽ 1:30pm
Sebastiaan Vos
➽ 2pm
Steven Kolsteren
➽ 2:30pm
CLOSING DISCUSSION
«A local perspective on graffiti heritage»
With Engwerda, Kolsteren, Steffens and Vos
Friday 25
Evening Program
6—10pm
Oude RKZ
Verlengde Hereweg 94
Free entrance
➽ 6—10pm
Unlock Graffiti Book Showcase
Chemistry Publishing
Hitzerot
Mr. Graffiti
Stickit
➽ 7pm
Garden-sprayer wall calligraphy demonstration
With François Chastanet
At the local Hall of Fame (map link)
Five-minute bike ride from Oude RKZ
➽ 9pm
Reading of graffiti literature
Diana Ozon
Dumar NovYork
Julian Harmens
Willemijn van de Walle
At Theater de Kapel, inside Oude RKZ
In cooperation with local poetry jam Poëzie Met!
Limited seats, requires free booking
Friday 25
Evening Program
6—10pm
Oude RKZ
Verlengde Hereweg 94
Free entrance
➽ 6—10pm
Unlock Graffiti Book Showcase
With Chemistry Publishing, Hitzerot, Mr. Graffiti and
Stickit.
➽ 7pm
Garden-sprayer wall calligraphy demonstration
With François Chastanet. At the local Hall of Fame (map link), five-minute bike ride from Oude RKZ.
➽ 9pm
Reading of graffiti literature
With Diana Ozon, Dumar NovYork, Julian Harmens and Willemijn van de Walle. At Theater de Kapel, inside Oude RKZ. In cooperation with local poetry jam Poëzie Met! Limited seats, requires free booking.
Saturday 26
Lectures
12—8pm
Museum aan de A
Brugstraat 24
Ticket: 10€
Limited seats, requires booking
➽ 12pm
Welcome
➽ 12:30pm
PANEL 1
François Chastanet
Pietro Rivasi
Nicolas Gzeley
➽ 2pm
Coffee break
➽ 2:30pm
PANEL 2
Orestis Pangalos
Tobias Barenthin Lindblad
Christian Omodeo
➽ 4pm
Coffee break
➽ 4:30pm
KEYNOTE
Diana Ozon
➽ 5pm
PANEL 3
Hania El Houry
Mick La Rock
Dutch Graffiti Library
➽ 6:30pm
Coffee break
➽ 7pm
CLOSING DISCUSSION
«Graffiti heritage and the institution»
With Ozon, Gzeley, Rivasi, Engwerda and the DGL
➽ 12—8pm
Unlock Graffiti Book Showcase
Chemistry Publishing
Hitzerot
Mr. Graffiti
Stickit
Sunday 27
Historical City Walks
➽ 11am—12:30pm
Morning walk
➽ 4—5:30pm
Afternoon walk
Starting location will be disclosed to participants.
Limited spaces, requires free booking
TEAM & SUPPORT
DIRECTORS
Hugo Engwerda (NL)
PhD Javier Abarca (ES)
HOST
Dumar NovYork (US)
CHAIR
Prof. Susan Hansen (UK)
PRODUCTION
Gina Djajapermana (NL)
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Philip Ekwaro-Osire (NL)
ARCHIVIST
Hugo Engwerda (NL)
LITERATURE ADVISER
PhD Edward Birzin (US)
DESIGN & ART DIRECTION
Unlock Bureau (ES)
ILLUSTRATIONS
Timo Meester (NL)
Adapted from photographs from the Kladmuur archive
PRESENTED BY
IN COOPERATION WITH
WITH SUPPORT FROM
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
PRESENTED BY
IN COOPERATION WITH
WITH SUPPORT FROM
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
