Zeitz Museum mourns death of chief curator Koyo Kouoh

The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa on Saturday announced the death of its executive director and chief curator Koyo Kouoh.

“It is with profound sorrow that the trustees of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) received news in the early hours of this morning, of the sudden passing of Koyo Kouoh, our beloved executive director and chief curator,” the museum confirmed in posts on Facebook and Instagram.

“Zeitz MOCAA will close its doors today, and all programming will be suspended until further notice. Our thoughts are with Koyo’s family at this time.”

Kouoh was appointed to the positions in 2019, bringing two decades of experience as an international curator and cultural producer.

“As the founding artistic director of the thought-provoking RAW Material Company, a centre for art, knowledge and society in Dakar, she developed numerous art programmes and published widely on contemporary art,” the museum said at the time. “She has served as curator of the Educational and Artistic Program of 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair for eight consecutive editions in London and New York, as well as on the curatorial teams for Documenta 12 and 13.”

Kouoh was described at the time as an “outstanding leader and a passionate visionary who has an exemplary competence and extended network in all capacities of institutional operations with the arts in Africa and globally” by Jochen Zeitz and David Green, co-founders and co-chairs of Zeitz MOCAA.

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