Eric Otieno Sumba

Eric Otieno Sumba is a writer, editor, and independent researcher with a background in social theory, political economy, postcolonial studies, and art criticism.

9 May 2026

A dark-skinned man with short textured hair, a mustache, and clear glasses, wearing a patterned shirt, looks right against a corrugated metal background.

He is currently editor (publication practices) at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin. With SPAZIO GRIOT, he has curated an artist residency (since 2024), and annual exhibitions and public programmes (since 2022) in Rome. His cultural criticism and essays have appeared in Berlin Review, frieze, The Guardian, Griotmag, London Review of Books, The Public Review, Texte zur Kunst, and Camera Austria, among others.
Sumba’s most recent contribution to biennale criticism appears in the text ‘Lush Camouflage’, published in Dries Verhoeven: The Fortress (2026), the catalogue of the Dutch Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, by the Mondriaan Fund and Jap Sam Books.