Eric Otieno Sumba

Writer, Editor

Eric Otieno Sumba is a writer whose work has been published by Contemporary And, Africa is a Country, Sleek, Nataal, Frieze, Texte Zur Kunst, Gropius Bau Journal and Griotmag, where he is also contributing Editor. He has contributed to two edited volumes: 'African Artists: From 1882 to Now' (2021), a pioneering survey of 300 modern and contemporary artists published by Phaidon Press, and a chapter to 'Radical Reimagining of Museums' (forthcoming), as well as to several academic journals. Eric writes in English and German, and his work is regularly translated into Italian. His bimonthly socio-political affairs column is published by Danish newspaper Dagbladet Arbejderen.

Portfolio

Books

Phaidon
African Artists

Modern and Contemporary African art is at the forefront of the current curatorial and collector movement in today's art scene. This groundbreaking new book, created in collaboration with a prestigious global advisory board, represents the most substantial appraisal of contemporary artists born or based in Africa available.

Magazines

Frieze
04/01/2021
Sandra Mujinga

In the April issue of frieze, Eric Otieno Sumba profiles artist Sandra Mujinga on the occasion of solo exhibitions at the Swiss Institute in New York and The Approach in London. “I’ve been thinking about whether I can at all appear as I wish to appear in this world. Or if there’s an impossibility to that.” Sandra Mujinga’s multimedia practice conjures spectres that haunt contemporary reality – from our dematerialized digital footprints to the ever-present ghosts of colonial history.

GRIOT
06/24/2020
'Centropy' | Deana Lawson and Black Image Matters

There are at least two liminal frames that offer themselves when looking at images of Black people. The first is that on a fundamental level, images generally and images of Black people in particular remind us that no matter how advanced the equipment is, image-making is always a transaction in light and shadows.

Contemporaryand
The First Reactions to the Report on Restitution of Looted Art | Contemporary And

Europe's cultural sector is still reeling from a report presented to the French president Emmanuel Macron last Friday. The report entitled The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics was commissioned by Macron as part of his efforts to jumpstart political discussions around the repatriation of cultural heritage.

nataal.com
11/07/2018
Jojo Abot

The artist translates conceptual affirmations of her creative self into the multi-sensory piece and way of thinking, Power to the God Within Almost three years after the release of Jojo Abot's debut EP, Fyfya Woto, I remain drawn to her subversive sonic aesthetic that sound simultaneously familiar yet new.

German

Monopol-magazin
Künstlerin Monira Al Qadiri: "Erdöl ist ein Monster"

Die kuwaitische Künstlerin Monira Al Qadiri erlebte als Kind, wie Erdöl ihr Land veränderte und schließlich in den Krieg führte. In ihrer Arbeit setzt sie dem zu Ende gehenden Ölzeitalter ein Denkmal

Monopol
11/14/2018
Teju Cole und Fazal Sheikh fragen in Human Archipelago nach Heimatlosigkeit und Gastfreundschaft

Das Wort “Gastfreundschaft” klingt etwas altmodisch. In Zeiten der Globalisierung, in der jeder easyjet-setter mit entsprechendem Pass, Outfit, Wortschatz und Habitus überall ein “local” sein kann, ist die Rolle der Gastfreundschaft in den Hintergrund gerückt. Teju Cole und Fotograf Fazal Sheikh haben zusammen ein neues Fotobuch herausgebracht, in dem diese alte Tugend abgestaubt wird