Koyo Kouoh, curator of next Venice Biennale, has died at 57

Koyo Kouoh, the director of Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art ( Zeitz MOCAA) in Cape Town and the curator of the next Venice Biennale, has died at the age of 57 of cancer. Cameroonian-born Kouoh was the first African woman to lead the Biennale; the New York Times reports that she was just days away from announcing its theme on 20 May. Kouoh was appointed executive director and chief curator of Zeitz MOCAA in 2019. As director, she oversaw exhibitions by Otobong Nkanga and ‘When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting’, among others. In 2008, Kouoh founded RAW Material Company, an artists’ residency and cultural centre in Dakar. She was also an independent curator at Documenta 12 (2007) and 13 (2012). In a statement, the Venice Biennale said that her passing ‘leaves an immense void in the world of contemporary art and in the international community of artists, curators, and scholars’.

On Tuesday, the German culture ministry announced that it has settled a long-running dispute with the Hohenzollern family, heirs of the former German ruling dynasty. The Hohenzollerns have been trying to reclaim or be compensated for property confiscated after the creation of East Germany, when thousands of works including fine art, furniture books and other items were transferred to state museums. The family first made their claim after the fall of the Berlin wall, but formal negotiations began in 2014. In 2023, after a period of the talks breaking down and Georg Friedrich Prinz von Preussen dropping a court case, the family agreed to withdraw its claim to its former property. Under the new arrangement, the Stiftung Hohenzollernscher Kunstbesitz (Foundation for Hohenzollern Art Property) will manage the items, with its nine-person board including three representives from the family and six from federal and state institutions. The Art Newspaper reports that the new German culture minister, Wolfgang Weimer, described the settlement as ‘an enormous success for Germany’s heritage and for art audiences.’

The UK government has barred the export of a painting by Botticelli. The Virgin and Child Enthroned dates to the 1470s and has been in private collections in the UK since 1904. It was sold at Sotheby’s in December last year for £9.7m. However, following advice from an expert committee, the Department of Media, Culture and Sports (DCMS) has placed a temporary ban on the painting leaving the country has been put in place. UK institutions have until 8 August to match the price achieved at the Sotheby’s sale. In a statement of 9 May, arts minister Chris Byrant said, ‘I hope that a UK gallery is able to save this work so that it can be enjoyed by the public for generations to come.’ A second deferral period of six months will follow the 8 August cut-off if an option agreement – which obliges the buyer to purchase the work if they raise the funds – is signed.

Lindokuhle Sobekwa is the winner of this year’s Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize. The South African photographer was awarded the £30,000 prize, organised in partnership with the Photographers’ Gallery in London, for his book I carry Her photo with Me, which was published by MACK in 2024. The project, which comprises photography as well as handwritten notes in a scrapbook-style format, traces the decade-long disappearance of his sister, Ziyanda, her eventual return and death shortly after, as well as the lasting effects of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa.