The jury selected Yto Barrada "for her multidisciplinary practice that unites various artistic and social communities in search of a new utopia. An iconoclastic researcher, a borderless and holistic artist, Yto Barrada reinvents 'social sculpture' through the lens of alternative pedagogies and transforms the canons of modernism into a plural garden. From Paris to Tangier, and through New York, she traces a unique cartography that gathers new voices—unseen, fragile, historical, or forgotten—to share their narratives. These are just some of the reasons that led the jury to invite Yto Barrada to unfold her worlds within the space of the French Pavilion and share them with the audiences of the Venice Biennale." 

Simultaneously exploring cultural phenomena, natural processes, and historical narratives, Yto Barrada's work pays particular attention to the transmission of local know-how, the circulation of aesthetic forms, and strategies of social disobedience. Emphasizing community, artistic kinship, and collaboration with friends and family, her work often revisits modernist avant-garde movements.

In 2006, Yto Barrada co-founded the Cinémathèque de Tanger. She also created The Mothership, a research and residency center centered around a dye plant garden she has been cultivating for the past decade. *The Mothership* serves as a gathering place for artists, gardeners, and thinkers, promoting a feminist, ecological, and playful approach to creation and the transmission of knowledge.

Yto Barrada's work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Jeu de Paume, Paris (2006); the Renaissance Society, Chicago (2011); Tate Modern, London (2011); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2013); Carré d'Art, Nîmes (2015); Barbican Centre, London (2018); MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts (2021); Museum of Modern Art, New York (2021); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2022); Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany (2023); Césure – Plateau Urbain as part of the Festival d'Automne (2023); and MoMA PS1, New York (2024), among others. She has also participated in numerous biennales, including Venice (2007, 2011), Sharjah (2011), Istanbul (2013), Marrakech (2016), Gwangju (2018), and Whitney (2022).

Yto Barrada's works are part of public collections worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou (Paris), MoMA (New York), Tate Modern (London), Kunsthalle Basel, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Reina Sofia (Madrid), Mathaf (Doha), and Mumok (Vienna), among others.

Among her distinctions, Yto Barrada was named Artist of the Year by the Deutsche Guggenheim in 2011. She received the Peabody Museum Fellowship (Harvard University) in 2013–2014, the Soros Arts Fellowship in 2023, and numerous awards, including the Abraaj Group Art Prize in 2015, the Roy R. Neuberger Prize in 2019, and both the Mario Merz Prize and the Queen Sonja Print Award in 2022.

She is represented by Polaris Gallery (Paris), Sfeir-Semler Gallery (Beirut, Hamburg), and Pace Gallery (New York, London, Seoul, Hong Kong, Geneva, Los Angeles, Tokyo).

The French Pavilion at the International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is managed by the Institut français, under the auspices of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture. For its 61st edition, the Pavilion will host Yto Barrada's project and welcome the public in a fully renovated space following a year of restoration work and an off-site edition during the 2025 Architecture Biennale. 

This restoration project, funded by France, is overseen by the Directorate of Buildings and Logistics (DIL) of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs through its French Works and Buildings Service in Italy (STBI), in coordination with the French Embassy in Italy. The renovations, beginning in January 2025 and lasting 15 months, aim to enhance the building’s energy performance, improve visitor reception, and modernize the existing facilities. Since December 2021, the studies for this project have been entrusted to Venetian architect Donata Cherido.