Derek Tumala (b. 1986, Manila, Philippines) is a multidisciplinary artist working with new media, video, sculpture, installation, drawing and artistic research in the pursuit of ecological world-making. His art practice revolves around the mediation of science in art and interconnectedness. Tumala received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts Major in Advertising Arts at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila.

Tumala’s notable artistic projects were presented at the 36th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts; Der TANK, Basel Academy of Fine Arts and Design FHNW; Biennale Jogja 17; World Weather Network; Sainsbury Centre, UK; Museum of Contemporary Art & Design-Manila; Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne; and Art Basel Hong Kong.

He participated in the Delfina Foundation Artist Residency, London; Manila Observatory AiR; International Rice Research Institute Art-Science Residency; Apexart Fellowship New York; 10x10 Korea Research Fellow; and Salzburg Global Seminar. He collaborated with cultural institutions British Council, Goethe Institut and Japan Foundation. 

Tumala received the Cultural Center of the Philippines’s Thirteen Artists Award (2024) and was named an ArtReview Future Great (2024).


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