Abdul Hamid, Vater von Fahid
Huseyin Temizkan
Binta
Abdul Hamid, Vater von Fahid
Huseyin Temizkan
Binta
BEZIRK 05
The work began in Gries, Graz’s fifth district, in the streets around the BAU, the exhibition venue of steirischer herbst ’25. The neighborhood is home to diaspora communities from regions affected by conflict. At the time of the project, more than half of the district’s residents did not have Austrian citizenship. In the 2024 Styrian state election, the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) had received the largest share of votes in Gries.
I wanted to understand what democracy looks like at this scale, and how everyday participation relates to political representation. Who helps sustain a neighborhood through work, care and organization? Who has the right to vote?
I visited migrant organizations and local pubs, spoke with residents from different backgrounds and photographed the people and places I encountered: streets, entrances, shops, courtyards, poll sites and meeting places. Through these conversations and encounters, I investigated different ways of belonging to the same district, the relationships between its inhabitants and the tensions between them.
What concerned me was the distance between being part of a city’s everyday life and being recognized as someone with a say in it.
The work was commissioned for steirischer herbst 25 / Never Again Peace, under the artistic direction of Ekaterina Degot, and developed in close collaboration with Pieternel Vermoortel and Beatrice Forchini.