Filipino multidisciplinary artist Derek Tumala will impart his creative process behind Tropical Climate Forensics, a virtual world that portrays the climate crisis in the Philippines, in a hybrid event on Friday, September 9, 2022 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Tropical Climate Forensics is the Philippines’ contribution to the international online exhibition of 28 arts agencies launched by the World Weather Network, a community of creatives reporting on weather and climate.

The global project is termed weather stations, wherein the art agencies demonstrated the respective country’s atmospheric condition through artworks and images, stories and reflections to create an archipelago of world views and voices that better depict the issue of climate change across multiple localities and languages.

In his talk, Tumala will have a conversation on the relation of art and science, particularly in utilizing the creative platform to spread awareness on the pressing environmental problem. He will share his experiences during his artist’s residency at the Manila Observatory, one of the oldest meteorological observatories in Southeast Asia. This gave him the opportunity to immerse in the archival research of seismographic data and forecasts of the weather and climate in the country and the region.

He will likewise discuss the independent biomes modeled after the 19th-century technique of diorama production, which provides an in-depth look at the anchors of the crisis across the past, present, and speculative future.

Tumala was commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSB). The institute was supported by the British Council’s Creative Commissions for Climate Action, a global program exploring climate change through art, science, and digital technology.

His exploratory works, which mostly engage new media, have been shown at the Art Basel Hong Kong, Salzburg Global Seminar, Tokyo Design Week and Beyond Time Residency Poland. He likewise initiated Mvltiverse, a group of multimedia artists that explores the wonders of moving images and STEAM/Projects, a collective of technologists and artists.

The hybrid session will be conducted on Friday, September 9, 2022, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

To register, visit https://bit.ly/MCADDerekTumala. For inquiries, email mcad@benilde.edu.ph.

Tropical Climate Forensics will be available on view until July 2023 at https://worldweathernetwork.org/station/mcad/. For more information, visit the World Weather Network at http://worldweathernetwork.org/.