BARRADA, Yto

About the French-Morroccan photo artist, Yto BARRADA (b. 1971, in Paris)

Yto BARRADA studied history and political science at the Sorbonne and photography in New York. Her work - including photography, film, sculpture, prints and installations, - began by exploring the peculiar situation of her hometown Tangier. Her work poetically explores issues of migration, diaspora, access and exclusion. Over the last 15 years, the Strait of Gibraltar has become one of the main gateways for illegal immigration. Her photographs, taken between 1998 and 2004, capture the temptations of leaving, and the unfulfilled hopes of escaping across the Strait into Europe. Living and working in both Paris and Tangier, her parallel experience of these cities informs her practice, and offers an effective and challenging suggestion to the aesthetic fetishism that has long characterized Western representations of this part of the world.

Yto BARRADA was the Deutsche Bank Artist of the Year for 2011. She is also the founding director of Cinémathèque de Tanger and a recipient of the 2013-2014 Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography (Peabody Museum at Harvard University) and was awarded the 2015 Abraaj Prize.

French Bio

Yto Barrada (Maroc, France, née en 1971 à Paris) a étudié l'histoire et les sciences politiques à la Sorbonne, la photographie à New York. Son travail - incluant photographies, sculptures, éditions et installations - a commencé par explorer la situation inédite de sa ville natale, Tanger. Elle est désignée artiste de l'année par la Deutsche Bank (2011), à la suite de quoi son exposition Riffs circule largement. Barrada est aussi la fondatrice et la directrice de la Cinémathèque de Tanger. Elle bénéficie de la bourse pour la recherche en photographie 2013-2014 du Peabody Museum (Harvard University) et reçoit le Prix Abraaj en 2015.

Photo books by Yto BARRADA

'A Guide to Trees for Governors and Gardeners / A Guide to Fossils for Forgers and Foreigners' (2011, 2016), 'Monograph' (2013)