Koyo Kouoh Leads a Historic Shift in Art and Curation
Koyo Kouoh, Lesley Lokko, Rujeko Hockleyd and Aindrea Emelife are redefining global art, bringing African women's voices to the forefront.
Koyo Kouoh at the 2022 Rolex Arts Festival.
Koyo Kouoh hasmade history as the first African woman named artistic director of the Venice Biennale, the world’s most prestigious art exhibition. For over a century, it has served as a central stage for contemporary art. Kouoh will curate the 2026 edition, bringing her years of experience and a distinct vision rooted in African and diasporic art.
As the chief curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town, Kuouh helmed foremost projects that explored identity, history and cultural narratives. Reflecting on her appointment,she described the opportunity as a “once-in-a-lifetime honor and privilege” to follow in the footsteps of great predecessors.
“Artists, art and museum professionals, collectors, dealers, philanthropists and an ever-growing public converge on this mythical site every two years to feel the pulse of the Zeitgeist,” she added, expressing her hope to compose an exhibition that will “carry meaning for the world we currently live in — and most importantly, for the world we want to make.”
Kuouh’s exciting appointment is part of a broader shift in the international art world, a growing openness to the perspectives of African women. Here are three more women whose influences are helping to reshape the global art scene, bringing fresh narratives to the forefront.
Lesley Lokko
In 2023, Ghanaian Scottish academic and writerLesley Lokkobecame the first Black woman to curate the Venice Architecture Biennale. Her edition,The Laboratory of the Future, placed African voices at the heart of the conversation, asking how architecture can respond to urgent issues like inequality, migration and climate change. “Africa is the laboratory of the future,” Lokko told OkayAfrica in a 2023 interview.
In addition to her curatorial work, she is an accomplished educator. She founded theAfrican Futures Institute in Ghana, a school dedicated to training the next generation of architects. With her Biennale curation, she redefined what a major architectural exhibition could be.Rujeko Hockleyd
As a co-curator of the Whitney Museum’s 2019 Biennial, Zimbabwean American curator Rujeko Hockley has helped bring marginalized voices into the center of the global art conversation. Her exhibitions often explore themes of race and justice.
At the Whitney, Hockley has worked on exhibitions like Julie Mehretu, a retrospective of the Ethiopian-born artist’s work from 1996 to today, and Pope.L: Instigation, Aspiration, Perspiration, a collaborative project between the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and Public Art Fund which looked at performance and race in contemporary art.
Drawing from her Zimbabwean roots and her commitment to the African diaspora, Hockley’s work challenges traditional narratives in art and creates space for new conversations about culture and identity.
Aindrea Emelife
At just 27 years old, Nigerian British curatorAindrea Emelife is one of the youngest voices in the global art world today. Her thoughtful approach to African art and history has already garneredinternational recognition, and her next major role is as curator of theEdo Museum of West African Art, set to open in Benin City, Nigeria, in 2025. This museum will be a landmark institution, showcasing treasures of African art, including the repatriated Benin Bronzes. As itsinaugural curator, Emelife is tasked with building a bridge between the museum’s historical legacy and its contemporary relevance.
Her work doesn’t stop there. Emelife was curator of the Nigerian pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale. “A lot of people think African art is just painting and sculpture… there are different new mediums that are going to expand how we see African art, as well as Nigerian art,” she told OkayAfrica earlier this year. She also recently curatedBlack Venus, an exhibition exploring the representation of Black women in art, photography and popular culture.A shift in the global art world
Kouoh’s appointment to the Venice Biennale and Lokko’s and Emelife’s outstanding contributions signal a broader transformation in the global art world. It reflects a growing recognition and appreciation for the perspectives of African women and marks a milestone in the ongoing narrative of global artistic representation. These women are making history, shaping the future of art, architecture and cultural heritage in ways that are deeply personal, profoundly relevant and long overdue.
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