The "sudden and premature" death of its 2026 curator, Koyo Kouoh, has shaken the Venice Biennale.

The curator of the upcoming Venice Art Biennale, Cameroonian-Swiss Koyo Kouoh, has died at the age of 57, the cultural organization announced last Saturday, describing her death as "sudden and premature." At the beginning of last December, the Biennale announced that Koyo Kouoh would be in charge of organizing the art event in 2026, which will reach its 61st edition.

“Her death leaves an immense void in the contemporary art world and in the international community of artists, curators, and experts, who have appreciated her extraordinary intellectual and human commitment,” the Biennale adds. Koyo Kouoh was particularly known for her exhibitions on feminism and her focus on Africa. The Venice Biennale stated five months ago that her appointment was 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, 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 Grand Prix Meret Oppengeim of Switzerland.

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