Koyo Kouoh, history-making curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale, has died, age 57

The Outsize Artistic Legacy of Koyo Kouoh

Through Zeitz MOCAA, the late curator Koyo Kouoh nurtured not just an institution but an atmosphere, one that let artists go inward and create not merely for spectacle, but for truth.

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, history-making curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale, has died, age 57

Kouoh, the first African woman to lead the Venice Biennale, was due to present her plans for the prestigious international art exhibition next week

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…