US EditionKoyo Kouoh, history-making curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale, has died, age 57
- Koyo Kouoh, a Cameroonian curator and director of the Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, South Africa, passed away unexpectedly in May 2025 at the age of 58.
- She was appointed in December 2024 as the first African woman to curate the 130-year-old Venice Biennale scheduled for May 2026, where she was to present the exhibition's title and theme.
- Kouoh championed Pan-Africanism, promoted African and diaspora artists, and worked with passion and intellectual rigor on the Biennale's conception before her unexpected passing.
- The Venice Biennale and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni conveyed their heartfelt condolences, describing her passing as untimely and emphasizing the significant loss it represents for the contemporary art community.
- Zeitz MOCAA suspended its programming out of respect, while the art community mourns Kouoh's loss and her role as a scholar, curator, and public figure.
153 Articles
153 Articles
Koyo Kouoh – tribute to a curator who fiercely promoted African art
The sudden death of the Cameroon-born curator Koyo Kouoh, at the age of 57 and at the height of her career, has shaken the art world. Her passing has left a void in the African arts scene, one which extends far beyond the continent. Born in 1967 in Douala, she spent her teenage and early adult years in Zurich, Switzerland before returning to the continent and settling in Senegal. She lived in Cape Town, South Africa from 2019. There she was exec…
Just in December, Koyo Kouoh made history: it was announced that she would be the first African woman to act as curator of the Venice Biennale. But this Saturday, ten days after presenting her proposal for the world's largest contemporary art event, she died unexpectedly.Kooh, originally from Camerón, ran the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, since 2019. She was considered a key figure of African and internation…
The Cameroonian-Swiss exhibition designer would have become the first African curator of the Venice Art Biennale next year. Koyo Kouoh died surprisingly at the age of 57.
Koyo Kouoh, Curator Tapped for 61st Venice Biennale, Dies at 57
Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh, who was selected to lead the 2026 Venice Biennale, died suddenly at the age of 57 on Saturday, May 10. Her husband, Philippe Mall, confirmed with the New York Times that Kouoh’s death was attributed to her recent cancer diagnosis.Appointed as the next Venice Biennale’s artistic director in December, Kouoh would have been the first African woman to oversee the international exhibition, whose theme and title she was…
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