The devastating loss of Madame Koyo Kouoh, a cultural pioneer from, Cameroon, continues to shake the art world today. She was the director of Zeitz MOCAA in South Africa and appointed curator for the 2026 Venice Biennale—a prestigious role, made all the more significant by her identity as an African woman. Both the Biennale organizers and her husband, Philippe Mall, announced her death in hospital and stated that doctors had discovered the cancer too late. Her untimely passing comes just days before she planned to announce the title for the 2026 Venice Biennale on May 20th, a date La Biennale di Venezia has confirmed.
In her 54 years, Madame Koyo profoundly impacted the lives of contemporary African artists across the globe. She dedicated her life to nurturing cultural institutions and ensuring that both emerging and established platforms continued to move holistically toward building lasting cultural infrastructure on the African continent.
With a degree in Business Administration and Banking from Switzerland and training in Cultural Management in France, she went on to serve as Artistic Director of RAW Material Company in Dakar, Senegal—a role she held until 2019. She later assumed the position of Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA, the largest museum on the continent. She took on this role after the museum dismissed its previous director, who faced accusations of sexual harassment shortly after its founding
Under her leadership, Zeitz MOCAA became a vital sanctuary for artists, galleries, collectives, and foundations both within Africa and beyond. The continent is now more interconnected than ever, with artists, writers, and cultural leaders collaborating across borders to create impactful work and shared spaces. This is due in no small part to her curatorial vision, including landmark projects such as When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in collaboration with the University of the Western Cape, along with various educational and development programs run in partnership with leading platforms like 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London and New York.
It would be reductive to confine her achievements to a single article. Her legacy will endure in the hearts and works of artists, curators, writers, and cultural practitioners across the globe. Her passing is a poignant reminder of the work that was done, the work that continues, and the work still to be done in the realms of cultural innovation, leadership, and preservation in the continent
In her own words:
“I do believe in life after death because I come from an ancestral Black education where we believe in parallel lives and realities. There is no ‘after death,’ before death, or during life. It doesn’t matter that much. I believe in energies, living or dead—and in cosmic strength.”
— Madame Koyo Kouoh
Click here to discover expansive curatorial works at Zeitz MOCCA Museum
