Tao po?

(Knock-Knock?)

Neill Frianeza Catangay is a Filipino interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Guam. Catangay embraces his cultural identity and upbringing to create work that examines decolonization as a form of care, speculating progressive solutions for individual and collective futures.

Tao po is a pre-colonial Filipino phrase which means knock-knock in English. Indigenous Filipinos have various spiritual beliefs I their culture, especially when it comes to entering someone’s home. Tao po is a phrase said before entering a home which indicates that you have arrived - but more importantly - that you are human. Many Indigenous Filipinos believe that evil spirits such as vampires cannot say the phrase and therefore cannot enter.

Although I grew up in the U.S. territory of Guahan, I learned about this phrase from my grandparents who spent a large part of their life n the Philippines. Since my grandparents have passed on, the green house was recently demolished to make way for my parents to build a new home on this familiar land.

This installation is a deconstructed representation of the memory of my grandparent’s green home (including actual pieces of the home) and acts as a catalyst to speak on my current thoughts and experiences questioning who and what is “human.”