The Strait is an ongoing project by Yto Barrada (Paris, 1971), that she initiated in 1998. The title refers to the Strait of Gibraltar, the bottleneck between northern Africa and Europe. For Yto Barrada, the ‘strait’ symbolizes the temptation of migration that constantly agitates the streets of Tangier. This shift in meaning lends the streets the guise of an illusory space that embodies all the obstinate dreams of leaving the country. In her photographs, Yto Barrada seeks to capture the temptation of leaving.
The Strait Project has been exhibited at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies (Barcelona), the Villa Medici (Rome), the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and in the summer of 2004 in Witte de With. The book A Life full of Holes. The Strait Project is being published in association with Witte de With.
Yto Barrada lives and works in Paris and Tangier. She studied history and political science at the Sorbonne in Parijs, and photography at the International Center of Photography in New York. She is a founder and the Director of Programming of the Cinémathèque de Tangier.