Koyo Kouoh dies at 57

The Venice Biennale is still opening with Koyo Kouoh’s exhibition intact — and that is the story. Kouoh, the curator chosen for the 2026 central exhibition, died in May 2025 at 57, just before she was due to present the show’s title and theme. But instead of replacing her or rebuilding the exhibition from scratch, La Biennale and the team she assembled decided to realize the show she had already designed. The result is unusual and heavy with stakes — one of the art world’s biggest exhibitions is arriving as a posthumous work. (labiennale.org) ### What exactly is opening? It’s the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the big central show that anchors the Venice Biennale. Kouoh gave it the title *In Minor Keys*, and it runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with pre-opening days on May 6, 7, and 8. That matters because this is not some side project being completed in her honor — it is the main exhibition of the Biennale itself. (labiennale.org) ### Why is her death still shaping the news now? Because the hard question was never just grief. It was whether a show this large could survive the loss of its curator. Kouoh died on May 10, 2025, after what the *New York Times* described as cancer, and the Biennale had to decide whether to cancel, replace, or preserve her exhibition. It chose preservation. ARTnews says Biennale president P(labiennale.org)labiennale.org) ### How finished was Kouoh’s plan? More finished than people might assume. La Biennale says Kouoh had already built the curatorial project’s theoretical framework, selected the artists and artworks, chosen the catalogue authors, determined the graphic identity, shaped the exhibition architecture, and opened dialogue with the invited artists. Basically, the skeleton and a lot of the muscle were already t(labiennale.org) her exhibition, not inventing a substitute. (labiennale.org) ### Who is actually executing it? The team Kouoh selected. La Biennale names Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira, and Rasha Salti as advisers, Siddhartha Mitter as editor-in-chief, and Rory Tsapayi as research assistant. They were also the people who publicly outlined the work during the Biennale’s February 2026 presentation in Venice. So the show is being finished by collaborators she chose, not by a cleanup crew drafted in afterward. (labiennale.org) ### Why not just appoint a new curator? Because a new curator would almost certainly mean a different exhibition. Curating the Biennale is not like handing off a construction blueprint where every bolt is already specified. It’s more like finishing a film after the director is gone — possible only if the vision, cast, structure, and edit are already substantially there. La Biennale’s own language makes clear that Kouoh had already made those defining choices. (labiennale.org) ### Why does Kouoh matter beyond this one show? Kouoh was one of the most important curatorial voices working in contemporary art, especially in building serious institutional space for African and diasporic artists. She also led RAW Material Company in Dakar and later Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town. Her appointment to Venice was historic — she was the first African woman chosen to curate the Bie(labiennale.org)death. (artnews.com) ### What changed after her death? The exhibition changed from a major curatorial debut into a test of stewardship. One visible sign is that the Biennale says it will not award a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement this year because Kouoh was unable to finalize it. Even that small detail shows how much of the event usually depends on the curator’s live, ongoing judgment — and how carefully the institution is trying to avoid pretending those unfinished decisions were made. (labiennale.org) ### Bottom line? This year’s Venice Biennale is no longer just presenting Koyo Kouoh’s ideas. It is also presenting the art world’s answer to a difficult question — whether a curator’s vision can survive her. In Venice next week, we’re about to see the closest thing possible to her own answer.