Malta-based architect Tom Van Malderen uses his work to probe the intersections of art, design, and architecture. He takes pleasure in contemplating the diverse ways we utilize our environments, closely examining the intricate web of cultural references woven into their objects and materials. In doing so, he prompts reflection on aspects of utility, value, ambiguity, and accessibility. Van Malderen invites visitors and users to imagine and experience the fictions and frictions of our inhabited space—its politics, its history, its materiality, and other real and unreal constructs.

After obtaining a Master in Architecture at Sint-Lucas Brussels, Van Malderen worked with Atelier Lucien Kroll in Brussels and AP Valletta in London and Valletta. Since the summer of 2018 Tom runs his own studio alongside his position at AP Valletta, to delve deeper into his visual art and design practice and collaborate with several NGOs.


Don’t hesitate to reach out
tom@tomvanmalderen.com


Selected interviews/articles
Impeached
Valletta Contemporary
Movimento
Who controls our access
Good Conditions



SELECTED EXHIBITIONS


Mobile Photo Studio, Mulhouse Photo Biennial, 21-22 Sept. 2024
[…] And Nothing Is Forever*, SISU, Estonia, June 2024
Mobile Photo Studio, Malta Biennale public programme, 6-7 April 2024
Malta Biennale, collective show, Malta, March-May 2024
2023 Retrospective at R Gallery, Malta, Jan-Feb 2024
Best Conditions, duo show, Malta-Belgium Oct. 2023
Because every House tells a Story, Duffel, Belgium, Sept. 2023
Far Reach, collective show, Berlin, Germany, Sept. 2023
Walk the Seeds, public artwork, Malta, Sept. 2023
Oikos Logia, collective exhibition, R Gallery, Malta, 2023
Das-Dingenen, collective exhibition, CC Zwaneberg, Belgium, 2021
Debatable land(s), collective exhibition, Casa Stivala, Malta, 2021
Blink, duo show at Valletta Contemporary, Malta, 2021
No Ordinary Terrain, MUZA, Malta, 2021
Fuse, Valletta Design Cluster, Malta, 2021
Hackable Animals, Unfinished Art Space, Casino Notabile, Malta, 2019
Contemporary Istanbul, Blitz, art fair, Turkey, 2019
Good Conditions, duo show at DMW Art Space, Belgium, 2019 
Zabbar’s Calling Citta Hompesch, Mahala Festival, collective exhibition, Malta, 2018
Except for Access Only, solo show, Malta Contemporary Art, Malta, 2018
Conditions and Opportunities, duo show at DMW Art Space, Belgium, 2017
Good Walls Make Good Neighbours, Valletta International Visual Arts Festival, Malta, 2015
I Saw a Light, Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta, Malta, 2015
Hermetik, collective exhibition, Fort Tigne, Malta, 2013


SELECTED SET AND EXHIBITION DESIGNS

Clay - Craft - Concept, curated by Gabriel Zammit, Malta, August 2024
Melita, מלט −mlṭ, refuge, Anne Immelé, Malta, March 2024
That Other Place, solo show Raphael Vella, Malta, Sept. 2023
OKOKO, ZfinMalta, Valletta, Malta, 2023
Crux, Birkirkara, Malta, 2023
Varcities, Gzira Pop-up Art park, Malta, 2022
Ripples, Noor Images, Atelier Néerlandais, Paris, France, 2022
Uċuħ Tar-Raba, Friends of the Earth Malta, Valletta, Malta, 2022
Superlikes, ZfinMalta, Valletta, Malta, 2021
Strangers in a Strange Land, MUZA, Valletta, Malta, 2020
Scheharazade, Charlie Cauchi, Valletta Contemporary Art, Valletta, Malta, 2019
Hors Concours, University Of Malta, Valletta, Malta, 2019
Mahalla Share House, Mahalla Festival, Valletta, Malta, 2018
Malta Pavilion, Venice Art Biennial, Arsenale, Venice, 2017
Malta, Land of Sea, Bozar, Brussel, 2017
Time, Space, Existence, Architecture Biennial, Venice, 2016 
Maltese Confabulations, Blitz, Valletta, 2014
Ziguzajg, temporary event space, Valletta, Malta, 2012
Time, Space, Existence, Architecture Biennial, Venice, 2008
Reasonable Dreams, La Galerie d’Architecture, Paris, 2008
Open [4], architecture exhibition, London, UK, 2008
Interface, exhibition at the Salone del Mobile, Milan, 2007