Artists on Archives with Abang-guard and Umber Majeed

Asia Art Archive in America is thrilled to share presentations of recent works and investigations into archives by artist duo Abang-guard (Maureen Catbagan and Jevijoe Vitug) and artist Umber Majeed on Thursday April 10th. Their presentations will be followed by a conversation moderated by AAAinA’s Manager of Programs and Collections, Claire Kim.

Abang-guard and Majeed are the 2024-25 Queens Museum Jerome Foundation Fellows for Emerging Artists. As part of this fellowship and on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, the artists were invited to respond to the complex history of the Queen’s Museum’s site and Flushing Meadow Corona Park. Our program on April 10th will share the details of their research into the archives of the World’s Fair as well as the methodologies behind activating these materials through their exhibitions.

Their culminating exhibitions at Queens Museum, titled "Abang-guard: Makibaka" and "Umber Majeed: J😊Y TECH" opened on March 16th, 2025 and will run through October 5th, 2025.

Participant bios:

Umber Majeed (b. New York, NY, 1989) is a multidisciplinary visual artist and educator. Her writing, performance, and animation work engage with familial archives to explore Pakistani state, urban, and digital infrastructure through a feminist lens. She received her MFA from Parsons the New School for Design in New York, NY and BFA from Beaconhouse National University in Lahore, Pakistan. Majeed has presented her work in solo exhibitions at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY (2022); 1708 Gallery, Richmond, Virgina (2021); and the Rubber Factory, New York (2018). She has shown internationally in group exhibitions at Hayy Jameel, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (2024); the Asian Art Biennial at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan (2021); Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai, UAE (2019); the Karachi Biennale, Karachi, Pakistan (2017), among others. Majeed is a recipient of the HWP Fellowship from Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon (2017); the Refiguring Feminist Futures Web Residency from Akademie Schloss Solitude & ZKM, Germany (2018); the Digital Earth Fellowship from Hivos, the Netherlands (2018-2019); and the Technology Residency from Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY (2020).

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.

Light refreshments will be provided.

AAAinA’s general programming and operations are funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the City Council, the Vilcek Foundation, and other foundations and individuals.

Host or Publisher Asia Art Archive in America