TAM-TAM Institute

Established in 2018, the TAM-TAM Institute is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of poster art and visual culture. The institute took over the management and organisation of the non-profit activities developed by the company TAM-TAM, including the socially engaged poster competition Plaktivat and the outdoor exhibition platform Street Gallery (Ulična galerija).

The institute encourages creativity and excellence in poster design through various activities and initiatives of national importance. Through exhibitions, publications, research and educational projects, it promotes the poster as a medium of visual communication and artistic expression in public space. The institute aims to serve as a reference point for individuals, institutions and events engaged in poster culture and visual communication.

Plaktivat

Giving importance to the city poster as an independent medium with its own rules regarding content, format and visual language, TAM-TAM launched Plaktivat in 2014 as a socially engaged poster competition addressing contemporary social issues. The first edition invited creative responses to the problem of brain drain.

Since 2017, the competition has been open internationally, welcoming both professional and emerging designers. The selected works address topics such as solidarity, media literacy, domestic violence, reading culture, migration and hate speech, promoting tolerance, empathy, social engagement and democratic values.

Plaktivat posters and campaigns have received numerous recognitions, including awards at the Slovenian Advertising Festival (SOF) and the Brumen Awards.

Street Gallery

Street Gallery (Ulična galerija) is an outdoor exhibition platform that brings contemporary visual art and design into public space. It offers exhibition opportunities for emerging and established artists and designers and brings contemporary visual culture closer to the public, creating opportunities for encounters between art and everyday urban life. Originally launched in Ljubljana, the project has expanded to other Slovenian cities like Maribor and Kranj.

Cities for Pedestrians!

In partnership with IPoP - Institute for Spatial Policies, the institute launched the international poster design competition Cities for Pedestrians! in 2019, inviting designers to envision pedestrian-friendly cities of the future. Selected works have been presented through exhibitions and remain accessible under a Creative Commons licence at Pesec.si.

Publications

Among the institute's publications is City Poster (2018), a collection of texts by architects, urbanists, sociologists and artists reflecting on the role of posters in public space and their significance for urban environments. The publication encourages discussion on the responsible management of visual communication in cities.

In 2019, the institute published Plaktivat – Poster that Change Society, documenting socially engaged poster production in Slovenia between 2014 and 2019 through a selection of winning and finalist works from the Plaktivat competition. The issue was accompanied by an exhibition at the Municipality of Ljubljana.

Coronavirus

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, TAM-TAM Institute brought together designers, advertising agencies and visual communicators to create public-awareness campaigns promoting responsibility, solidarity and mutual care. More than 200 visual messages were produced and disseminated through digital channels and public poster sites in several Slovenian cities. The project was supported by the Slovenian Advertising Chamber and the Slovenian Marketing Association and received multiple WEBSI awards in the field of digital communication.

External links