Junger Ankauf
Yto Barrada - A Modest Proposal und Cinéma modèle - Alcazar (Cinema Model - Alcazar)
2014
Yto Barrada was born in Paris in 1971 and raised in Tangier, Morocco. She studied History and Political Science at the Sorbonne in Paris and Photography in New York. Her works – photographs, films, publications, installations and sculptures – make reference to the special situation of her home city of Tangier. For many years, Tangier was a place of longing for literati; today, it has become overrun by tourists and international investors.
Cinema modèle – Alcazar, 2013
The wooden Cinema modèle – Alcazar from 2013 makes reference to the cinema scene in Tangier, which flourished into the 1970s and enjoyed international acclaim. As a result of increasing political repression, greed for profit and, not least of all, new technologies such as VHS and DVD, every cinema in Tangier had been closed down by 2001. With the ‘Cinémathèque de Tanger’, which was founded in 2007, Yto Barrada breathes new life into Tangier’s cinema culture. The institution is a non-profit organisation, which serves as a platform for intercultural exchange and presents a diverse program of documentary and experimental films.
A Modest Proposal, 2010-2013
The 15-part, double-sided photographic work A Modest Proposal from 2010-2013 unites Barrada’s biography with images from Tangier. In one print, for example, we see a high-rise in her mother’s garden, images of the city as well as images from Barrada’s family album. The result is a symbiosis of the history of Tangier and the artist’s own personal history.