Gries is the “most screwed district of Graz” as Tristan Ammerer put it in Club Night #13. However, as became evident again this evening, there is indeed potential in this disadvantage. The hybrid coexistence in the foggy zone around the Club is the best example of this. Or “Triester”, a project by Martin Behr and Martin Osterider, who have been photographically documenting this “unsensational living space” for almost twenty years. This long-term visual journey, published by Camera Austria, already comprises fifteen volumes, and many of the motifs have become cult.
The struggle for green spaces, the enormous pollution caused by traffic and heavy industry, the socio-economic degradation of the district – these are the political issues in Gries today as they were then. District leader Nina-Marie Wolf (SPÖ) and her predecessor Tristan Ammerer (Grüne) are fighting on sometimes tough fronts for a better quality of life for Gries and its population, even if it is only a football pitch. Perhaps the Club Hybrid can also be an offer here in the future.