Bozar pays tribute to “brilliant, awe-inspiring” art curator Koyo Kouoh following unexpected death

The death of the internationally-renowned 58-year-old Swiss-Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh has prompted a wave of tributes from around the world, including Belgium’s flagship arts centre Bozar.

Kouoh’s passing was announced by her home institution the Zeitz MOCCA in Cape Town in South Africa. She was preparing to curate the 2026 Venice Biennale, the first African woman to be appointed to this position.

Kouoh was behind the groundbreaking exhibition of black figurative painting When We See Us currently on show at Bozar until 10 August.

“Like so many of her friends and colleagues, we are in shock at the unexpected disappearance of this brilliant, awe-inspiring woman, always so full of ideas, boundless energy and irrepressible joy,” said Bozar’s chief executive Christophe Slagmuylder and director of exhibitions Zoë Gray.

“The waves of celebration that went around the international art world at the news of her nomination to direct the next Venice Biennale are now being followed by shockwaves of grief at her loss,” they added.

The leading figure in promoting Pan-Africanism was due to present the title and theme of the international art event on 20 May. Kouoh worked “with passion, intellectual rigour and vision on the conception and development of the Biennale Arte 2026,” said the Venice arts institution in a statement.

Photos: Courtesy of Zeitz MOCCA; Kouoh in front of Bozar February 2025 ©Jef Van den Bossche