At the beginning of the 1980s, Hamburg’s urban landscape gradually began to change. The instigators of this transformation were not urban planners, however, but graffiti artists: inspired by films like Wild Style and Beat Street, they moved around the city at night with spray cans and left behind colourful pictures, symbols and writing on walls, bridges and train carriages. Over the course of time, Hamburg – which had been a grey city dominated by postwar architecture – was transformed into a colourful and diverse metropolis which soon became one of the European epicentres of the graffiti and hip-hop scene, alongside Paris, Amsterdam and Munich.
The exhibition “A CITY BECOMES COLOURFUL. Hamburg Graffiti History 1980-1999”, which will run from November 2nd, 2022 until January 7th, 2024 at the Hamburg Museum, tells the story of the origins of this youth subculture in Hamburg. The curators Oliver Nebel, Frank Petering, Mirko Reisser and Andreas Timm have assembled almost 500 exhibits, including photographs, texts, sketchbooks, spray cans, newspapers, magazines, vinyl records and accessories. In their research, they were able to build on their previous collaborative work: they are the editors of the lavishly illustrated book A City Becomes Colourful (published in 2021), from which the exhibition gets its name.
Like the book, the exhibition explores the historical period from the creation of a new city topography after the Second World War to the punk and protest culture of the 1980s and the emergence of a growing graffiti scene. The exhibition looks in detail at how North American hip-hop culture became established in Hamburg. Numerous photographs, including some large-format ones, show how Hamburg’s graffiti pioneers conquered the walls of the city. Film posters, concert tickets, articles from magazines like Stern and Bravo and various other documents illustrate the key role of the media, the importance of the music and breakdancing scene, and the relevance of youth clubs and the cultural sector to the development of the entire subculture.
Flyers, audio tapes and vinyl records: at first glance, some exhibits may look like mundane everyday objects from a bygone era. In the context of the story told by the exhibition, however, it soon becomes clear that almost every little snippet that had anything to do with hip-hop and graffiti was fiercely treasured at the time. In this pre-internet era, information about the subculture was in short supply, and belonging to the scene was like being a member of a secret society. The exhibition features equipment used by graffiti writers, such as spray cans, marker pens, square spanners and bolt cutters, but also accessories typical of the scene, like name belts, sneakers, baseball jackets with “backpieces”, and legendary records, to give visitors a profound insight into the beginnings of hip-hop culture in Hamburg. Alongside graffiti writing, it also looks at MCing, DJing and breakdancing.
The highlights of the exhibition include the historic S-Bahn seats which museum visitors are allowed to sit on – just like a graffiti writer in the 1980s. Above the entrance to the exhibition’s music section there is a large sign saying “Powerhouse”. This installation is the original sign that once hung above the entrance to a legendary hip-hop club in St. Pauli. Another highlight is the faithfully reconstructed room of a fictional Hamburg teenager who became a graffitist in the 1980s. The biographical transition from childhood to adolescence is expressed by numerous details in the room: beside the collection of empty cola cans which decorated many young people’s bedrooms at the time, there are also colourful Sparvar spray cans.
The exhibition will have its own accompanying catalogue featuring numerous illustrations as well as photos, objects and texts from the exhibition. It will be published when the exhibition opens and will be available to buy in the museum shop and at bookshops.
Paperback, 144 pages, 20 x 26 cm, 19,80 Euro
Language: German and english
Foreword: Prof. Bettina Probst
Editor: Oliver Nebel, Frank Petering, Mirko Reisser, Andreas Timm
Co-Editor: Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg
Publisher: Double-H Publishing
ISBN 978-3-9824951-0-1
An exhibition in cooperation with:
With kind support:
A CITY BECOMES COLOURFUL is supported by the wissensART Foundation and the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at Hamburg University, Weischer Medien and Inapa.
OUR CITY BECOMES COLOURFUL was developed as part of “dive in. Programme for Digital Interactions”, a project run by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes [German Federal Cultural Foundation], supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) in the programme NEUSTART KULTUR.
The Book
EINE STADT WIRD BUNT. Hamburg Graffiti History 1980-1999
The Hamburg graffiti scene is still very much rooted in the 1980s and 1990s. Its protagonists are regarded as pioneers not only within the community – they have had a decisive influence on the visual appearance of Hamburg.
The publication includes an exclusive collection of photos and statements from graffiti writers active at the time, as well as academic essays by renowned authors, presenting graffiti as a well-connected, subcultural phenomenon and offers information about the practice of appropriating the public space.
HARDCOVER BOOK
SHOPS
The four editors have been a part of the graffiti scene for more than 30 years and can offer an authentic view of the beginnings of this sub-culture, which has developed into a global art form.
Over five years of research resulted in a collection of mostly unpublished photos, sketches, materials and statements from the graffiti writers active at the time and from related fields.
Necker’s essay traces Hamburg’s change from a utopian to a neo-liberal city. A process of the unpredictable, unplanned, of open- and emptiness, of the unclaimed and of free space, all of which formed the possibilities for Hamburg’s graffiti scene. The essay focusses on these, often temporary, spaces and classifies and maps them from an architectural-historical point of view.
Carsten Heinze
THE PHENOMENON OF GRAFFITI
Der Artikel setzt sich mit Graffiti unter jugendkulturellen Gesichtspunkten auseinander und zeigt auf, dass das Sprühen in seinen historischen Anfängen als jugendkulturelle Praktik verstanden werden kann, die in einem engen Zusammenhang mit der frühen Hip-Hop-Kultur steht. Es wird unter anderem nach den Formen und Elementen gefragt, die die Anfänge der frühen Sprüher-Szene(n) auszeichnete. Das Hauptaugenmerk des einen allgemeinen Überblick gebenden Artikels liegt auf den Aspekten der Vergemeinschaftungspraktiken sowie auf den Strukturen, Ritualen und Symbolen der Szene. Die Beispiele der Darstellung orientieren sich an der Hamburger Szene des infrage stehenden Zeitraums.
Looking back at their beginnings in the young, fresh and exciting scene, what do the protagonists think today? In in-depth conversations, selected protagonists of Hamburg’s hip-hop scene share their memories, revisiting moments of their own past. Piece by piece, their stories complete a puzzle that offers more than just a vague idea of how it really was.
Flügel’s essay sets out to explore how the un-irgnorable graffiti came to Hamburg. In conversations with Christine Plößer (Graffiti – Kunst aus der Dose; Stern magazine), André Lützen (who accompanied train surfers on their dangerous tours), Torkild Hinrichsen (exhibition ‘ Narrenhände… ?: Graffiti’; Altonaer Museum 1991), and with Barbara Uduwerella (social worker with close ties to the graffiti scene), the following questions are explored: Was the motivation of graffiti artists in Hamburg similar to the motivation of those in New York? Was it a sign of ‘rebellion’ as outlined in the New York scene as described by J. Baudrillard? Was it an expression of a political, youth-cultural revolt? Or was it about a quest for adrenalin, risk and acceptance, maybe even fame? Where did the fascination, motivation and the initial impulse come from? And how did politics, the judiciary, art, culture and media react?
This essay focusses on the change that happened within the sub-culture, accepting artist Walter Josef Fischer as a key figure of the Hamburg scene. The OZ phenomenon, which shaped the city scape from the 1990s onwards, condemned by the media and now a part of urban history, offers a plethora of starting points for critical exploration. Further, the essay looks at both the supposedly first German graffiti artist, Hans-Peter Eiffe from Hamburg and the so-called ‘sprayer of Zurich’, Harald Naegeli, to facilitate an illustration of the still controversial debate about art, freedom and politics.
Christian Luda
JUST A PART OF THE CULTURE
Graffiti is regarded as one of the four elements of hip-hop culture, the others being breaking, DJing and MCing. But what was it really like in the beginning of the 1980s, when hip-hop arrived in Hamburg? Did the graffiti writers and Hamburg identify as part of a culture that included music and dance? How did they first come in contact with graffiti?
These ans other questions are explored, also by means of resurrecting the protagonist memories. Another field of inquiry is how graffiti and the other elements have influenced each other, and how they drifted apart.