YTO BARRADA

Early Life

Born in 1971 in Paris, France, Yto Barrada spent part of her upbringing in Tangier, Morocco. She later returned to Paris to study history and political science at the Sorbonne, followed by photography at the International Center of Photography in New York.

Yto Barrada Artworks

Barrada’s practice takes a serial or project-based approach to showcase Tangier’s shifting socio-political landscape across photography, film, sculpture, textile, and publication.

Photography

Barrada’s first photographic series ‘A Life Full of Holes: The Strait Project’ (1998–2004) casts an eye on people’s hopes of leaving Morocco through the Strait of Gibraltar, one of the main gateways for illegal immigration from Africa to Europe, and subsequent disillusionment.

Her 2007 series ‘Iris Tingitana Project’ explores the disappearance of the iris flower in Tangier following urban development. Barrada recovers the flower, which is native to the city, as a symbol of resistance against the erasure of local ecosystems.

Cinémathèque de Tanger

In 2006, Barrada co-founded the independent cinema Cinémathèque de Tanger (CDT), centring Moroccan film conservation and circulation.

Films from CDT’s archive were screened at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis from 2013 to 2014 as part of Album: Cinematheque Tangier, a project by Yto Barrada alongside the artist’s sculptures and film. In 2019, the cinema was recreated at Pace Live in New York as a temporary movie theatre.

CDT is located in the historic Cinéma Rif in the heart of Tangier.

The Mothership

In 2021, Barrada established The Mothership in Tangier, envisioned as an eco-campus for research, experimentation, and retreat. The site produces dye-making materials and hosts artist residencies and workshops. Barrada’s textile works in her solo exhibition Bite the Hand at Pace, London, in 2024 were made at The Mothership.

Awards and Accolades

Yto Barrada is the recipient of the 2022 Mario Merz Prize, the 2019 Roy R. Neuberger Prize, the 2016 Tiger Award for short film, the 2015 Abraaj Group Art Prize, and the 2011 Deutsche Guggenheim Artist of the Year award. She was nominated for the 2016 Prix Marcel Duchamp.

Exhibitions

Yto Barrada has exhibited extensively in Europe, North America, and the U.K.

Select solo exhibitions include Pace Gallery, London (2024); International Center of Photography, New York (2024); MoMA PS1, New York (2024); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2022); and Barbican, London (2018).

Selected group exhibitions include: 35th Bienal De São Paulo (2023); CSS Bard, New York (2023); Whitney Biennial, New York (2022); Fondazione Merz, Turin (2022); Hayward Gallery, London (2020); and Performa 17, New York (2017).

Barrada currently lives in New York.

Gallery

Yto Barrada is represented by Pace Gallery, Goodman Gallery, and Sfeir-Semler Gallery.

Website

The artist’s website is here, her Instagram here.

Elaine YJ Zheng | Ocula | 2024