Koyo Kouoh, a towering figure in the global art community and an unwavering champion of African creativity, has died at the age of 57. Her passing in Switzerland, confirmed over the weekend, comes as a profound shock to the art world — not least because she was still ascending, poised to become the first African woman to lead the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2025.
News of Kouoh’s unexpected death has sent ripples through the cultural landscape, leaving colleagues and artists grappling with the loss of a woman whose intellect, warmth, and influence left a mark on every room she entered.
“She was magnificently intelligent, endlessly energetic, and formidably elegant,” South African artist Candice Breitz wrote in tribute. Nigerian visual artist Otobong Nkanga called her a wellspring of “warmth, generosity, and brilliance.” Even outside the continent, her presence resonated as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni remarked that Kouoh’s passing “leaves a void in the world of contemporary art.”
From Cameroon to the World Stage
Born in Douala, Cameroon, in 1967, Kouoh’s life was as vibrant and layered as the exhibitions she later curated. At age 13, she moved to Switzerland, where she studied business and banking — a path she would soon abandon. “I am fundamentally uninterested in profit,” she once told The New York Times, reflecting on her decision to walk away from finance in favor of a more purpose-driven life.
In Switzerland, Kouoh began working with migrant women as a social worker. This contributed as a formative experience that shaped her lifelong commitment to community and inclusion. By the 1990s, she had become a mother, later expanding her family through the adoption of three children.
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Still, Switzerland never quite felt like home. In 1996, seeking purpose and belonging, Kouoh returned to Africa, settling in Dakar, Senegal, a city she would come to love deeply. “Dakar made me who I am,” she told the Financial Times just last week. “It’s the one and only place for me.”
A Force in the Art World
In Dakar, she established Raw Material Company, an independent center for art, knowledge, and society, which quickly became a beacon for contemporary African artists. Kouoh didn’t just curate exhibitions; she built platforms for dialogue, creativity, and critical thinking, ensuring she always centered African voices.
Her ability to lead in moments of turmoil came into sharp focus when she took the reins of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town in 2019. The institution was in crisis after its founding director resigned amid harassment allegations. Kouoh stepped in with calm resolve, steering the museum through scandal and the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For me, it became a duty to salvage this institution,” she explained on The Art World: What If…?! podcast. “If Zeitz had failed, it would have felt like all of us, African art professionals, had failed too.”
Under her leadership, Zeitz MOCAA regained its credibility, hosting groundbreaking exhibitions and expanding its role as a continental and global cultural force.
A Legacy Larger Than Life
At the time of her passing, Kouoh stood on the edge of another historic achievement, curating the 2025 Venice Biennale, a role never before held by an African woman. That she will not see this vision come to life feels especially heartbreaking to many who admired her courage and clarity of purpose.
Still, Kouoh’s legacy is undeniable. She transformed institutions, challenged narratives, and created space for African artists to flourish on the global stage. Her life’s work continues in the countless curators, artists, and thinkers she inspired.
Koyo Kouoh didn’t just make space in the art world; she reshaped its borders. And though she is gone far too soon, her spirit, bold, brilliant, and beautifully uncompromising personality remains stitched into the fabric of contemporary African art.
