Koyo Kouoh has been appointed executive director and chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town. Kouoh is a prominant figure on the international curatorial circuit as the founding artistic director of RAW Material Company, a centre for art in Dakar, coordinator of the artistic programme for the 1.54 Art Fair in London and New York and member of the curatorial teams for Documenta 12 and 13.
Zeitz MOCAA, which was founded by German collector and former Puma CEO Jochen Zeitz, was left leaderless after the resignation in June of Mark Coetzee amidst allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards colleagues.
The Thomas Heatherwick-designed museum in Cape Town’s harbour development houses Zeitz’s personal collection on long term loan as well a programme of temporary exhibitions. Last year Kouoh cocurated HKW’s three-day project Saving Bruce Lee – African and Arab Cinema in the Era of Soviet Cultural Diplomacy and her exhibition Dig Where You Stand was on view as part of this year’s Carnegie International. She was 72 in ArtReview‘s annual power 100. In 2016 she curated the Eva International biennial in Limerick.
4 March