Yto Barrada’ s broadside poster series, Mnemonic Phrases, is made up of 10 collected phrases, each referring to a different body of information to be remembered; for example, the first letter of each word in,“Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge,” easily recalls the sequence of musical notes, E-G-B-D-F, on the lines of the treble clef. This series, like other works of Barrada’s, engages with her extensive collection of found materials in order to celebrate various forms of self-directed learning. This series employs a subversive humor, as well as the concept of collage, in order to subtly navigate the space where dominant historical narratives intersect with the grammar of the home, the factory, the schoolhouse and the workshop. Mnemonic Phrases specifically refers to memory, and the attempt to remember through language.
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
The lines in the treble clef in music theory
E І G І B І D І F
Roman Men Invented Very Usual X-ray Guns
The electromagnetic spectrum
Radio waves І Microwaves І Infrared І Visible light Ultraviolet І X-Rays І Gamma rays
Never Eat Soggy Waffles
The cardinal directions
North І East І South І West
Dr.&Mrs.Vander-Tramp
Common verbs that use être as an auxiliary verb, as opposed to avoir
Devenir І Revenir І Monter І Rester І Sortir І Passer І Venir І Aller І Naître І Descendre І Entrer І Rentrer І Tomber І Retourner І Arriver І Mourir І Partir
Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain
The order of the colours of the rainbow
Red І Orange І Yellow І Green І Blue І Indigo І Violet
Napoleon Mange Allegrement Six Poulets Sans Claquer D’Argent
The 3rd period of the periodic table
Sodium І Magnesium І Aluminum І Silicon І Phosphorus І Sulfur І Chlorine І Argon
King Philip Cuts Open Five Green Snakes
The taxonomy of living and extinct organisms
Kingdom І Phylum І Class І Order І Family І Genus І Species
Colline a Deux Colonnes
The spelling of the words Colline (hill) and Colonne (column) in French
Colline І Colonne
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nougat
The planets of the solar system
Mercury І Venus І Earth І Mars І Jupiter І Saturn І Uranus І Neptune
Caterpillars Capture Every Elephant Made Perfect Thru Trade Unions
The nine muses
Calliope І Clio І Euterpe І Erato І Melpomene І Polyhymnia І Terpsichore І Thalia І Urania
Land and Water Forms is a series of paintings inspired by Montessori school practices, used to teach children about geography through visual inversion. In the works, landforms are paired and transposed — island/lake, archipelago/lake system, isthmus/canal —drawing attention to the interconnections between physical structures and substances of the earth.
Fragments of materials interact with each other as self-made tools that inspire new techniques — for instance, cardboard cutouts from the collaged works in Grinding Teeth (2020) are often used as paint brushes to create other paintings, suggesting synchronicity across mediums.
Salient to Barrada’s practice are concepts of pleasure, discovery and analysis, which are formulated through key works that experiment with materials (rust, cotton, natural dyes) and traditional processes. Her methodology is influenced by her background in history and political science. By using visual, textual and sculptural relics, the exhibition finds points of anchorage in historical narrative and aesthetic imagination and simultaneously condenses and stretches the frame of time.
Fragments of materials interact with each other as self-made tools that inspire new techniques — for instance, cardboard cutouts from the collaged works in Grinding Teeth (2020) are often used as paint brushes to create other paintings, suggesting synchronicity across mediums.
Salient to Barrada’s practice are concepts of pleasure, discovery and analysis, which are formulated through key works that experiment with materials (rust, cotton, natural dyes) and traditional processes. Her methodology is influenced by her background in history and political science. By using visual, textual and sculptural relics, the exhibition finds points of anchorage in historical narrative and aesthetic imagination and simultaneously condenses and stretches the frame of time.
Barrada considers the history of place through a reflection on water and land — land reshaped by water; sinking islands and cities at risk of disappearing — through the lens of children’s participation in the construction of the world, inspired by artist Simon Nicholson’s 1971 anti-elitist essay, “How NOT to Cheat Children: The Theory of Loose Parts.”
Salient to Barrada’s practice are concepts of pleasure, discovery and analysis, which are formulated through key works that experiment with materials (rust, cotton, natural dyes) and traditional processes. Her methodology is influenced by her background in history and political science. By using visual, textual and sculptural relics, the exhibition finds points of anchorage in historical narrative and aesthetic imagination and simultaneously condenses and stretches the frame of time.
Salient to Barrada’s practice are concepts of pleasure, discovery and analysis, which are formulated through key works that experiment with materials (rust, cotton, natural dyes) and traditional processes. Her methodology is influenced by her background in history and political science. By using visual, textual and sculptural relics, the exhibition finds points of anchorage in historical narrative and aesthetic imagination and simultaneously condenses and stretches the frame of time.
Salient to Barrada’s practice are concepts of pleasure, discovery and analysis, which are formulated through key works that experiment with materials (rust, cotton, natural dyes) and traditional processes. Her methodology is influenced by her background in history and political science. By using visual, textual and sculptural relics, the exhibition finds points of anchorage in historical narrative and aesthetic imagination and simultaneously condenses and stretches the frame of time.
In the series of photographs, Plumber Assemblage, Fig.1 - 10, Tangier, Yto Barrada considers the romanticism attached to objects characterized as ‘foreign’ and through this process, examines how value is assigned. Found objects such as pipes, faucets, and spigots — which are reused in assemblages by plumbers to advertise their services in Tangier — are placed outside of their typical context in poses that reconfigure their meaning. The series was presented as part of Barrada’s first solo exhibition in Johannesburg; She Could Talk a Flood Tide Down, in which she engaged different aspects of language and play — and through humour allowed for deeper reflection and a closer reading of objects, materials and processes.
Commissionned by Performa 17, curated by Adrienne Edwards
In the turbulent summer of 1966,Yto Barrada’s mother, a 23-year-old Moroccan student, was one of 50 ‘Young African Leaders’ invited on a State Department–sponsored tour of the USA.Through play, poetry, and humor,
the film Tree Identification for Beginners examines this stage-managed encounter between North America and Africa, and the nascent spirit of disobedience – the Pan-African,Tricontinental, Black Power, and anti-Vietnam war movements – that would come to define a generation.The film brings together 16mm stop-motion animation of Montessori educational toys with voiceovers from Barrada’s mother and other Crossroads Africa participants, as well as historic figures such as Civil Rights activist Stokely Carmichael.The audio effects were created by Barra-
da and professional Foley artists using noise-making tools in a sound studio.Tree Identification for Beginners also embodies Barrada’s research into form, abstraction, and spatial organization; the installation includes curtains hand- stitched with Montessori grammatical symbols and dyed with pre-industrial colors.
The film-collage assembles Super 8mm and 16mm film diaries, footage taken over eight years across the US and Morocco, including the rituals of the Grand Socco plaza, home of the Cinematheque de Tanger, the arthouse and cultural center which Barrada founded in 2006. The film also offers a first glimpse of The Mothership, a forest garden and botanical garden of dye plants, and artist residency, founded by the artist. Continental Drift also introduces Tangier characters like the Public Writer; and, as narrator of sorts, an english autodidact who collects Magic Lantern slides and channels local history. In a brief, chilling sequence, the camera has a close encounter with the aging thug who ‘disappeared” Barrada’s own grandfather in the 1950’s.
The intersection of cinema and the archive, themes that often recur in her practice, bring attention to the rigidity of zones and territories while also considering the struggles of sovereignty and migratory flows.