Trailblazing curator Koyo Kouoh passes at 57, leaving a transformative legacy in African contemporary art. Her visionary leadership reshaped global institutions and was set to make history at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
The art world is mourning the loss of Koyo Kouoh, an influential curator and cultural leader whose unwavering commitment to amplifying African voices reshaped the global contemporary art landscape. Kouoh, who was serving as executive director and chief curator of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in Cape Town, passed away suddenly on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at the age of 57.
“It is with profound sorrow that the trustees of Zeitz MOCAA announce the sudden passing of Koyo Kouoh, our beloved executive director and chief curator, on Saturday, 10 May 2025,” the museum said in a statement released Monday.
Kouoh’s death comes just a year before she was set to make history as the first African woman to curate the Venice Biennale. This appointment marked a powerful recognition of her life's work: creating space for African perspectives in contemporary art institutions long dominated by Eurocentric narratives. Her curatorial vision for the Biennale was widely anticipated and would have been a transformative moment for global art dialogue.
Born in Cameroon and raised in Switzerland, Kouoh brought a global sensibility to her work while remaining fiercely rooted in the African continent’s cultural realities. In 2008, she founded the influential RAW Material Company in Dakar, Senegal—a center for art, knowledge, and society that served as both an incubator for critical discourse and a launchpad for emerging talent across Africa and the diaspora. Under her leadership, RAW became a key platform for intellectual engagement and curatorial experimentation.
In 2019, she took the helm at Zeitz MOCAA, becoming one of the few Black women to lead a major international art museum. There, she pushed to restructure the institution into a more inclusive and representative space, expanding programming to highlight African voices and establishing key platforms like the "Zeitz MOCAA & African Museums" initiative, which fostered continental collaboration.
Kouoh was not only a curator of exhibitions but of cultural consciousness. She challenged the Western canon, advocated for decolonial approaches to museum practices, and fought for visibility and dignity for African artists and thinkers. Her exhibitions, writings, and lectures consistently highlighted overlooked histories and redefined the possibilities of what museums and biennales could be when led by visionaries from the Global South.
Her impact extended far beyond institutional walls. Kouoh was a mentor, a connector, and a catalyst—someone whose intellectual generosity and moral clarity inspired countless artists, curators, and cultural practitioners around the world.
Her untimely passing has left a deep void in the art community. Yet, her legacy endures—in the artists she supported, the institutions she reshaped, and the global conversations she ignited. As tributes pour in from across the world, they echo a shared sentiment: Koyo Kouoh did not just represent Africa in the art world—she redefined its center.
Though now deprived of her direct curatorial hand, the 2026 Venice Biennale will undoubtedly bear the imprint of her vision. The art world, forever changed by her presence, must now carry forward the work she so passionately began.
