Yasmine Berrada never planned a life in the art world. Born and raised in Casablanca, she studied at Université Paris Dauphine and built a career in asset management, only stepping away when her first daughter was born. Art had always been part of her life — her father collected Moroccan painting avidly, and she spent her first paycheck on an artwork — but the idea of running a gallery came later, almost by accident. Looking back, she says, it was art that found her. In 2009, without any formal art training, she and her sister Myriem opened Loft Art Gallery in Casablanca's Triangle d'Or district. Their driving force was passion and a desire for a space that felt alive and accessible, somewhere people could discover artists, meet them, and exchange ideas. Seventeen years later, Loft has grown into one of Morocco's most prominent champions of modernism from the country, helping bring its artists to international audiences. The milestones are stacking up. In 2024, Loft became the first Moroccan gallery to exhibit at Art Basel. This October, it is making its Frieze Masters debut in London with a solo presentation of works by Mohamed Melehi, a defining figure of the Casablanca Art School. The debut comes just weeks after the gallery opened a new space in its hometown of Casablanca. Berrada's path from finance to gallery leadership reflects a broader shift in how North African art reaches the world stage. Her focus on structured, long-term work with artists — recovering and promoting Moroccan modernism rather than merely trading it — has helped position the country's art within a broader international conversation.