PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THINGS
PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THINGS
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The Koyo Kouoh Foundation continues and structures the work initiated by Koyo Kouoh
The foundation functions as a platform for resources, funding, and structural support for those contributing to contemporary African cultural production globally. Through this work, the foundation supports both emerging and established practitioners across Africa and internationally.
It is based in Basel, where she lived and worked, while operating worldwide, continuing in the way her practice always did.
The mission of the foundation is to support African and Afro-descendant artists, curators, and cultural practitioners, wherever they are in the world. This also includes artists from other geographies whose practices are in direct dialogue with these contexts and whose work aligns with the values, research, and conversations Koyo Kouoh developed and sustained throughout her career.
KOYO KOUOH
Koyo Kouoh is one of the most influential curatorial voices of her generation, shaping the way contemporary African art is thought, produced, and experienced across the world. Her practice extended beyond exhibition-making. It was rooted in a deep commitment to artists, to knowledge production, and to building structures that allow both to thrive. Through her work, curating becomes not only a way of presenting art, but a way of engaging with society, of creating spaces where ideas can be exchanged, challenged, and sustained.
Her encounter with artists such as Issa Samb and the wider community around the Laboratoire Agit’Art was particularly formative. Within this environment, art was not confined to objects or institutions, but understood as a living, critical practice. One that engaged directly with social, political, and philosophical questions. This experience deeply informed Kouoh’s approach, leading her to develop a curatorial practice rooted in proximity, dialogue, and long-term engagement with artists. For her, artists are not simply contributors to exhibitions rather they are the foundation upon which cultural work is built. Koyo Kouoh’s influence continues to be felt not only through the institutions she has shaped, but through the ways of thinking she has cultivated. Her work lives on in the spaces that prioritize dialogue and knowledge, in the practices that center artists and their voices, and in the ongoing effort to imagine more expansive and grounded approaches to art.