Paris, France (1971)

Yto Barrada works and lives in Tangier. She studied history and political science at the Sorbonne and photography in New York. Barrada’s photographs, films and installations “ally themselves with forgotten versions of history, and slip behind the stage sets and facades of everyday life in her hometown of Tangier, Morocco.” Her photo series A Life Full of Holes: The Strait Project, begun in 1998, portrayed life in the city as a kind of existential waiting room, a state of suspended expectation relating at the same time to the residents’ imaginary, to the ancient myths of remission and death, and to the present geographic and political situation. One of Barrada’s responses to the dynamics of the region was to co-found the Cinémathèque de Tanger, North Africa’s first cinema cultural centre, which opened in 2005.
Barrada was awarded Artist of the Year 2011 by the Deutsche Bank and in April 2011, she had a solo exhibition titled Riffs at the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin (2011) that will travel to Wiels (Brussels), Renaissance (Chicago), Ikon Gallery (Birmingham) and Fotomuseum Winterthur (Zurich). Her recent exhibitions include Witte de With, Haus der Kunst (Munich), The Kitchen (New York), MoMA, SFMoMA, Walker Arts Center, Modern Art Oxford, Tate Modern, Jeu de Paume and Centre Pompidou and the 2007 and 2011 Venice Biennales.