"Alagaan ang Salaysay," which highlights stories from Filipino nurses, which includes our Founder and Artistic Director, Potri Ranka Manis.
Flux Factory is pleased to present A l a g a a n a n g S a l a y s á y, a solo exhibition by Maureen Catbagan.
The exhibition runs from October 4 - November 2, 2025 with an opening reception on Saturday, October 4, 6:00 - 9:00 pm, accompanied by performances from Cordillera Cultural Ensemble (CCE) and Kinding Sindaw.
In A l a gaan an g S al a ysá y (Take Care of the Story), artist Maureen Catbagan reimagines monuments through the living voices and personal stories of Filipino nurses. Catbagan began with conversations within the community, where familial words tita (aunt), ate (sister), and kuya (brother) are terms of care, respect, and nurturing regardless of blood relation. The stories became shorthand for the cultural and emotional infrastructure that nurses have built, one patient at a time.
The work’s historical backdrop is equally vital. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which abolished the national origins quota system, opened the door for skilled workers from the Philippines. By the 1970s, faced with severe staffing shortages, American hospitals were actively recruiting nurses from Manila and beyond. Many settled near the New York City area, creating communities where nursing was not only an occupation but also a family legacy.
This legacy was tested—and in many ways revealed—during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Filipino nurses found themselves on the frontlines of an unprecedented public health crisis. They faced grueling hours, emotional and physical exhaustion, and a constant risk to their own lives.Their work was courageous but also under-recognized, a fact that motivates Catbagan’s desire to “take care of the story.”
At Flux IV , visitors are invited to sit, listen, and read the nurses’ stories vocally. It’s an act of deep listening and verbal exchange that transforms storytelling into a kind of collective sculpture—monuments made of breath, attention, and memory. In this space, the distance between storyteller, listener, and subject collapses.
The stories themselves are as varied as the nurses who tell them: moments of homesickness, of humor, of loss and triumph. Together, they create a portrait of caregiving as a form of cultural endurance—an inheritance passed down not only through bloodlines but also through acts of service, compassion, and care. By turning the reading of these accounts into the artwork itself, Catbagan flips the usual relationship between monument and viewer. Here, the monument speaks—and the visitor becomes part of the structure simply by listening.
M a ur e e n C a t b a g a n : A l a g a a n a n g S a l a y s á y is presented as part of the artist’s 2025 NYSCA Fellowship.
Media & Visitor Contact
Meghana Karnik, Curator & Exhibitions Director, meghana@fluxfactory.org
About the Artist
Maureen Catbagan is a multi-media artist based in New York whose work engages social collectivity and explores the intersections of immigration, labor, and visibility. Collaborative projects include Abang-guard with artist Jevijoe Vitug, and the Yams Collective. Catbagan has exhibited in venues such as the Queens Museum, 601Artspace, PS 122 Gallery, The Center for Book Arts, Governors Island in New York, and The Contemporary Museum of Honolulu. They have performed in venues such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Abrons Art Center, DUMBO Art in New York, and Art Quarter Budapest. Fellowships and grants include the 2025 NYSCA-Support for Artists Grant, the 2025 NYFA-Queens Art Fund, and the 2024-25 Queens Museum-Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Emerging Artists amongst others. https://maureencatbagan.com
About Kinding Sindaw
Kinding Sindaw is a non for profit theater and dance theater established in 1992 and based in NYC that presents repertoire from living tradition and intangible cultural heritage of the Mindanao, Southern Philippines through performances, dance, storytelling, kulintang music ensemble and silat martial art. We are Honoring the Indigenous and Sultanate Bangsamoro and those in diaspora. Kinding Sindaw is non for profit, AAPI / BIPOC lead and membership. Founded by Artistic Director Potri Ranka Manis, a Meranao Bai Labi in diaspora in 1992.
About Cordillera Cultural Group (CCE)
The Cordillera Cultural Ensemble is an ethnic group representing the Igorot people of the Cordillera Administrative Region in the Northern Philippines, primarily based in New York and other states. Our mission is to preserve and promote our indigenous culture and history through traditional dances, songs, and other cultural performances celebrating friendship, courtship, andother ethnic festivities, in collaboration with government and non-government organizations.
https://about.me/cordilleraculturalensemble
About Flux IV
Flux IV is a new project space by arts nonprofit Flux Factory, where we host free and public exhibitions, gatherings, and artist projects. We are open on Saturdays from 12 - 6 pm and by appointment through December 2025.
Accessibility
Flux IV is located on the ground floor of 56-21 2nd Street, Long Island City, NY 11101 between the Queens Landing Boathouse & Environmental Center and Gotham Point apartments. The closest bus stop is 2 St/55 Ave on the Q101. The closest subway station is Vernon Blvd-Jackson Ave on the 7 line (purple) and 21st st G line (green). The closest ferry pier is Hunter’s Point South Ferry Landing. A Citibike station is located at Center Blvd & Hunters Point South Ferry Landing. iPark (paid parking) is available on 1-20 56th Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101. There is a public restroom left of our front door.
About Flux Factory
New York City-based and collectively led, Flux Factory’s mission is to support emerging artists through Artist-in-Residencies and Exhibitions, education and collaborative opportunities. For more information on our programs, visit www.fluxfactory.org or follow us on Instagram (@flux_factory).