Koyo Kouoh, the visionary Cameroonian-born curator and Executive Director of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), has died. She was 57.
Kouoh’s death comes just months after she made history as the first African woman to be named Artistic Director of the 61st Venice Biennale, scheduled to open in April 2026. Her appointment to helm the world’s most prestigious contemporary art exhibition was widely celebrated as a landmark moment for African and global art.
Born in Douala, Cameroon in 1967, Kouoh built a formidable career committed to re-centering Africa and its diaspora in the global art narrative. Her early life spanned Cameroon, Switzerland, and France, and she pursued studies in cultural management and banking before fully immersing herself in the art world—a field in which she would become one of its most influential figures.
Her passing leaves an immense void in the world of contemporary art and in the international community of artists, curators, and scholars who had the privilege of knowing and admiring her extraordinary human and intellectual commitment.