Jevijoe Vitug and I as Aban-guard along with poet Louisa Lam were part of Art of the Guardians presentation by Lambert Fernando and panel discussion for the 2023 Association of Academic Museums and Galleries Virtual Convening. Lambert’s presentation topic was about the art of Security Officers at the Met and their profound relationship they have formed with the collection, their experiences during the COVID 19 pandemic, and the art that they created during the lockdown. The art was later exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC in a exhibition titled: Art Work: Artists working at the Met, which opened for the first time to the public and was very well received garnering international press coverage including NBC Nightly News, Aljazeera TV and German ARD TV. I discussed how museum guards and staff can be a vital collaborative and educational resource in connecting with communities by sharing Abang-guard’s projects and our translations of museum spaces and objects.
Photo by Eileen Travell