UNLOCK BUREAU

Unlock Bureau produces world-acclaimed events that have laid the ground in the overlap of graffiti, street art and contemporary culture. 👈

Since 2016, we have worked with universities, museums, foundations and public offices in more than 30 cities in America and across Europe.

Unlock Bureau’s flagship event is the Unlock Book Fair, the highly-anticipated gathering of the international graffiti publishing scene. We also produce the Tag Conference and the Art & Place Conference, spearheading events in the field of graffiti and street art studies.

We publish specialised titles in collaboration with outstanding institutions and publishers. Between 2017 and 2024, we ran the Unlock Showcase pop-up bookstore, featuring books and zines from the Unlock Book Fair. We have also advised libraries and collectors on the selection and acquisition of graffiti and street art publications.

Commissions

We work under commission for institutions and culture programs in the concept, development, production and communication of culture events.

We offer 10 years of experience behind world-leading events, comprehensive expertise on graffiti and street art, a deep network of contacts, and full credibility in underground and institutional contexts.

Unlock Bureau is also a full-blown communications agency specialised in branding, graphic design, copywriting, photography and art direction. We work largely in-house on our own events and only take commissions for select culture projects.

The team

Unlock Bureau is a distributed team of culture professionals with a deep mixed background in graffiti and academia operating from Madrid, New York City, London, Thessaloníki and Heidelberg.

Founder and director: Javier Abarca (ES).

Core team: Dumar NovYork (US), Susan Hansen (UK), Orestis Pangalos (GR), Ulrich Blanché (DE), Irene Moratinos (ES), Edward Birzin (US).

Contact us

Partners

Museums and art venues

Museum for Hamburg History (DE), Historical Museum Saar (DE), Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte (DE), Groninger Museum (NL), Abguss-Museum Munich (DE), Museum aan de A (NL), Museum of Graffiti (US), Institute of Contemporary Arts (UK), Kulturzentrum Schlachthof (DE)

Universities and academic bodies

Hamburg University (DE), University of Lisbon (PT), Complutense University of Madrid (ES), Escuela Nacional de Conservación Restauración y Museografía (MX), Freie Universität Berlin (DE), Graduate School of North American Studies (US), Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia (IT), Catholic Private University Linz (AT), Hanze University (NL), Academie Minerva (NL), HBKsaar Fine Arts University (DE), Saarland University (DE), Escuela de Arte San Telmo (ES), Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (DE), Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ (DE), Hamburg University Library (DE), Urban Creativity Conference (PT), Urban Creativity Lund (SE), Institute for Contemporary Arts and Media KU Linz (AT), Fine Arts Faculty Library UCM (ES)

Foundations and private funds

WissensART Foundation (DE), Kladmuur Foundation (NL), Villa Albertine (US), BNG Cultuurfonds (NL), Hendrik Muller Fonds (NL), Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds (NL), NP3 (NL), JBS & HSK Foundation (NL)

Public funds and offices

Mondriaan Fonds (NL), German Research Foundation (DE), Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst (NL), DRAC Ministère de la Culture (FR), Groninger Archieven (NL), Deutsche Bahn (DE), Hamburg Behörde für Kultur und Medien (DE), Hamburg Behörde für Wissenschaft und Forschung (DE), Ajuntament de Barcelona (ES), Diputació Barcelona (ES), Landeshauptstadt München Kulturreferat (DE), Kompetenzteam Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft Landeshauptstadt München (DE), ÖFG Österreichische Forschungsgemeinschaft (AT), Bischöflichen Fonds zur Förderung der KU Linz (AT), Linz Kultur (AT), Kunstraad Groningen (NL), Fondazione di Modena (IT), Conarte (MX), Stadt Köln (DE), Stadt Köln Bezirksvertretung Ehrenfeld (DE), Buergerstiftung Köln (DE), Ajuntament de València (ES), Diputación de Cáceres (ES), Provincie Groningen (NL), Gemeente Oldambt (NL), Gemeente Gronignen (NL), Linz Tourismus (AT), Comune di Modena (IT), Generalitat de Catalunya (ES), Ville de Besançon (FR), Stadt Herne (DE)

Events and culture venues

Bien Urbain (FR), Eine Stadt Wird Bunt (DE), NuArt Aberdeen (UK), CityLeaks (DE), Museum für Visuelle Dissidenz (DE), Calle Libre (AT), Open Walls Conference (ES), Nau Bostik (ES), Munich Graffiti Library (DE), Moments (ES), Stencibility (EE), Street Art Communication (SK), Lab4 (MX), Fisart (RO), Social Surfaces (UK), DK Delai Kulturu (RU), Kino Achteinhalb (DE), Filmhaus Saarbrücken (DE), Automat (DE), Industry City (US), Nuevo Montacargas (ES), Le Grand Jeu (FR), Urbaner (IT), Amigdala (IT), Ovestlab (IT)