The commissioner of the next Venice Art Biennial, the Cameroonian-Suiza Koyo Kouah, has died at age 57, according to last Saturday the cultural entity itself, which qualifies the disappearance of “sudden and premature.” At the beginning of last December the Biennial announced that Koyo Kouah would be responsible for organizing in 2026 that artistic event that will reach its 61st edition.
“His death leaves an immense emptiness in the world of contemporary art and in the international community of artists, commissioners and experts, who have appreciated their extraordinary intellectual and human commitment,” adds the biennial. Koyo Kouah was especially known for his exhibitions about feminism and his attention for Africa. The Venetian Biennial said five months ago that her appointment intended to represent “the recognition of a broad horizon and the emergence of a generous day of new words and eyes.”
Born in 1967 in Cameroon and raised in Switzerland, Kouah was a recognized artist in the African and international panorama with numerous publications and exhibitions in the main cities and museums around the world. Since 2019 she held the position of executive director of the Zeiz Museum of African Contemporary Art in Cabo del Cape, in South Africa, and in 2020 she received the Grand Prix Meret Out of Letury from Switzerland.
The Venice Biennale is one of the most relevant artistic events and is divided into sectors: in 2025 it will be focused on architecture, directed by the Italian engineer Carlo Ratti, and in 2026 in art.