The last year, before her appointment at the MOT, she worked as an independent curator for some years.
In the past Iida worked as Curator at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery for eleven years, starting as Assistant Curator in 1998 when it was preparing for opening. Major curated exhibitions at TOCAG include Wolfgang Tillmans: Freischwimmer (2004), Trace Elements: Spirit and Memory in Japanese and Australian Photomedia (TOCAG, 2008/Performance Space, Sydney, 2009) and others. From 2009 to 2011 Iida was Visiting Curator at the Australian Centre of Asia Pacific Art (ACAPA), a research institute within the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia, researching the developmental trajectory of APT and working on APT6 and partly on APT7. She stayed in Seoul as 2011 International Fellowship Researcher, hosted by National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Drawing from her interest in co-curation, contemporary art in Asia, and the relationship between society and art institutions such as art museums and biennials, Iida worked on co-curated exhibitions in Seoul, New Delhi, Jakarta, multiple cities in Australia and Milan, while worked on a string of international exhibitions, including The 15th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh 2012 (official curator of Japan participation); Aichi Triennale 2013; Sapporo International Art Festival 2014 as Curator, and served as Chief Curator (Head of Curatorial Team) of Aichi Triennale 2019 and Aichi Triennale 2022. Between the years of 2014 to 2018, she was Associate Professor at the Tokyo University of the Arts. Iida is a member of CIMAM (2015-), IBA (2017-), AICA International (2017-), and committee member for Sapporo International Art Festival (2015-). Currently, Iida has been working for Aichi Triennale 2025 as Head of Curatorial.