Exhibitions - Makibaka
Abang-guard
Makibaka
03.16.25 – 01.18.26
Abang-guard, Film still of "Filipino Community Cultural Center of Delano, California," 2025, time variable. Courtesy the artists.
Artist duo Abang-guard (Maureen Catbagan + Jevijoe Vitug) contends with visibility through the lens of immigration and labor in their multidisciplinary practice. For their first museum solo exhibition, Abang-guard reconfigures the iconic architecture of the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair’s Philippines and New York State Pavilions as a scaffold to structure their investigation into the layered significance of the year 1965 in Filipino American labor history. Abang-guard takes stock of how these narratives have been lived, remembered, erased, and fought for. Makibaka, roughly translated from Tagalog as “coming together for change,” is a rallying cry used by Filipino movements and communities in fighting against exploitative systems. The spirit of makibaka is woven into Abang-guard’s paintings, sculptures, performances, and videos that pay homage to significant Filipino American sites.
Abang-guard: Makibaka is organized by Sarah Cho, Assistant Curator.
About the Artist
Abang-guard is a collaborative project between artists Maureen Catbagan (b. Quezon City, Philippines, 1975) and Jevijoe Vitug (b. Pampanga, Philippines, 1977). Catbagan received their BFA from SUNY, Binghamton University and MFA from CUNY, The City College. Vitug received his BFA from St. Scholastica’s College, Philippines and MFA from San Francisco Art Institute. Catbagan and Vitug’s collaboration began in 2017 through their occupation as museum guards. Abang-guard has performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (2022); Governors Island, NY (2022); ARoS Public Atelier, Denmark (2022); Abrons Art Center, New York, NY (2021); and Socrates Sculpture Park and Flux Factory, Queens, NY (2019), among others. Their work has been included in group exhibitions at 601 Artspace, New York, NY (2023); PS122 Gallery, New York, NY (2023); and HUB-Robeson Galleries in Pennsylvania State University (2023); among others.
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Supporters
Abang-guard: Makibaka is made possible in part by lead support from the Jerome Foundation and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant. Additional support is provided by the Queens Museum Exhibitions Circle.
The Queens Museum is housed in the New York City Building, which is owned by the City of New York.
The Museum is supported, in part, by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with Mayor Eric Adams, the Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, and the New York City Council under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne E. Adams.
Major funding is generously provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Ford Foundation, Hearst Foundations, Henry Luce Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Lambent Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, Mellon Foundation, E.A. Michelson Philanthropy, New York Community Trust, Richmond County Savings Foundation, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
