Venice Biennale curator Koyo Kouoh dies

The curator of the upcoming Venice Biennale of Art, Cameroonian-Swiss Koyo Kouoh, has died at the age of 57, the cultural organization itself announced on Saturday, describing her death as “surprising and premature”.

At the beginning of last December, the Biennale announced that Koyo Kouoh would be responsible for organizing the 61st edition of the artistic event, scheduled for 2026. “His death leaves an immense void in the world of contemporary art and in the international community of artists, curators and specialists, who appreciated his extraordinary intellectual and human commitment”, adds the Biennale.

Koyo Kouoh was particularly well-known for her exhibitions on feminism and her focus on Africa. The Venice Biennale declared five months ago that her nomination was intended to represent “the recognition of a wider horizon and the emergence of a generous day of new words and perspectives.”

Born in 1967 in Cameroon and raised in Switzerland, Kouoh was a renowned artist on the African and international scene, with numerous publications and exhibitions in major cities and museums around the world.

Since 2019, she has served as executive director of the Zeiz Museum of Contemporary African Art in Cape Town, South Africa, and in 2020 she received the 'Meret Oppengeim' Grand Prix, organized by Switzerland.

The Venice Biennale is one of the most important artistic events and is divided into sectors: in 2025, its focus will be on Architecture, directed by Italian engineer Carlo Ratti, and in 2026, it will be dedicated to Art.