The death of Koyo Kouoh, promoter of contemporary African art

On May 20, Koyo Kouoh was scheduled to present the theme of the next edition of the Venice Art Biennale, which is scheduled to take place in May 2026 and for which she was appointed curator in December. The first African to hold such a position, she had established herself as one of the most important curators from the Black continent. Since the announcement of her sudden death on the night of May 9, at the age of 58, tributes have poured in on social media. " We are not ready for a world without you ," French artist Eric Baudelaire immediately expressed his emotion on Instagram. "Your time on earth has been and will always be an endless inspiration in my life ," added visual artist Kader Attia.

Koyo Kouoh had a knack for commanding respect, with her beautiful golden eyes and calm but firm manner. "We have to stop having a devalued image of ourselves ," she repeated. "There is nothing diminutive about the adjective African. Europe and America, we bump into them for years and they stare at us before letting us in. I don't care whether they let me be at their table or not. I set my own table, it's up to them to come and eat at mine."

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