VENICE — During the opening preview’s second day at the Venice Biennale, Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons initiated a poetic journey through the Giardini, honoring Koyo Kouoh, the late curator of this year’s main exhibition, In Minor Keys. Campos-Pons addressed the assembled crowd, many of whom were artists chosen by Kouoh, expressing the enduring presence of Kouoh’s spirit. The event also captured the attention of passersby waiting for free espresso.
Campos-Pons described the tribute as a ‘minor key,’ a gesture to continue the fight for humanity’s core values, particularly celebrating Africa as the original continent. Following Kouoh’s unexpected passing from cancer at 57 last May, a team of her assistants and advisers strove to preserve her curatorial vision. An impromptu pavilion in the Giardini marked this unofficial yet approved event.
Marie Hélène Pereira, the curator leading the 2026 Biennale, noted that the poetry caravan was inspired by a trip Kouoh undertook in 1999 with nine African poets from Dakar to Timbuktu. Pereira emphasized the power of prose to express the unspeakable emotions stemming from global oppression. The event featured a diverse group of speakers, including poets Natalie Diaz, Robin Coste Lewis, Batool Abu Akleen, and Anne Waldman, who spoke on the importance of protecting cultural heritage.
Musical contributions enriched the event, with kora player Saliou Cissokho and Swiss saxophonist Philippe Mall, Kouoh’s husband, offering performances. Mall dedicated a piece titled ‘Wise One’ to Kouoh and played Nat King Cole’s ‘Nature Boy,’ highlighting its emotional resonance. Romanian photographer Radu Neacșu, drawn in by the gathering, likened it to a spiritual procession.
The event also featured readings by Bahamian-Trinidadian poet Christian Campbell, who shared an elegy for Kouoh. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Kouoh’s brother, also spoke. Anna M. Dempster, a curator and Fellow at Cambridge University’s Wolfson College, reflected on the distinctiveness of this tribute, contrasting it with recent protests like those by Pussy Riot and FEMEN, noting its emphasis on joy amidst sorrow.
