Derek Tumala
Born in Manila, 1986
Derek Tumala is a visual artist working across various media and subjects in the pursuit of ecological world-making. Tumala’s wide-ranging practice explores the possibilities of art as knowledge, schematics, living systems, object orientation, moving image, emerging technologies, staged performance, and public programmes. His work revolves around the realms of science and nature, meditating on the idea of interconnectedness. By forming ecologies and systems of thought, Tumala’s practice traces mutuality between humans and their changing natural and built environments.
Tumala’s diverse art practice has led him to present projects at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila; the World Weather Network; the Jogjakarta Biennale; the International Rice Research Institute; the Manila Observatory; the Delfina Foundation, UK; the Sainsbury Centre, UK; Art Basel Hong Kong; and more. In 2024, Tumala was named one of ArtReview magazine’s Future Greats. He was also recently named a recipient of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Thirteen Artists Award 2025.
