Big Chief Demond Melancon, Amistad Takeover, 2026. Installation view of ‘In Minor Keys’ La Biennale di Venezia, 2026. Photo by Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
‘In Minor Keys’ Review: Its Best Moments Live in the Institutions Koyo Kouoh Built
In this review for Frieze, writer Marko Gluhaich examines In Minor Keys through the curatorial legacy of Koyo Kouoh. The article focuses on the exhibition’s engagement with artist-run initiatives, spaces of learning, and practices grounded in collective histories and living traditions, positioning the Biennale as an extension of Kouoh’s institutional vision.
At the center of the review is Big Chief Demond Melancon’s Amistad Takeover, described as the visual centerpiece of the opening gallery. Gluhaich emphasizes the work’s roots in the Black Masking traditions of New Orleans and its hand-beaded depictions of the 1839 Amistad revolt, framing the sculpture as both ceremonial object and monument to resistance, memory, and cultural continuity.
