As La Biennale di Venezia prepares for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, anticipation is already building for the announcement of the official theme for the Biennale Arte 2026, curated by Swiss-Cameroonian Koyo Kouoh.
Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, is at the helm of the next Venice Art Biennale; she will announce the title and theme of the edition during a press conference on Tuesday, May 20, held as usual at Ca’ Giustinian.
The exhibition is already scheduled to run from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with a pre-opening on May 6, 7, and 8; the main venues for the event will be the Giardini and the Arsenale, in addition to various locations throughout the city.
La Biennale di Venezia has appointed Koyo Kouoh as the curator of the Biennale Arte, marking a new chapter in the history of the event. Following Lesley Lokko, who in 2023 became the first African woman to direct the Biennale Architettura, Kouoh becomes the first African female curator of the Biennale Arte, bringing with her extensive experience in the global contemporary art scene (note: in 2015, Nigerian art critic Okwui Enwezor became the first African curator of the Biennale, though at the time he worked primarily in Europe as the director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich).
The President of the Biennale, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, emphasized that Kouoh’s appointment represents “the awareness of a broad horizon of vision at the dawn of a day rich with new words and perspectives. Her gaze as a curator, scholar, and public figure meets the most refined, young, and disruptive intelligences,” reaffirming the institution’s commitment to representing diversity and innovation in the world of contemporary art.
Kouoh expressed her enthusiasm for the appointment, describing the Venice Biennale as a “mythical place” where artists and art professionals gather to capture the zeitgeist. She added: “It is a unique honor and privilege to follow in the footsteps of illustrious predecessors in the role of Artistic Director and to create an exhibition that I hope will hold meaning for the world we currently live in and, more importantly, for the world we wish to build. Artists are the visionaries and social scientists who allow us to reflect and project in ways that only this profession permits.“
Who is Koyo Kouoh?
Born in Cameroon in 1967 and raised in Switzerland, Kouoh is currently the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town, South Africa, a role she has held since 2019.
Previously, she was the artistic director and founder of Raw Material Company, a center for art, knowledge, and society based in Dakar, Senegal.
Kouoh describes herself as a “radical pan-Africanist“, firmly and consistently advocating for the importance of African art, rejecting the Eurocentric narratives that have long dominated the world of art and criticism, and demonstrating a deep and active commitment to promoting African art both within the continent and on the international art scene.
Article by Lucia Pecoraro. Photos by Mirjam Kluka.
