Nzo-A-Nkisi (The Praise House), 2018
Archival Digital Print on Canvas, 26" X 36"
Edition of 5
Prints are produced on demand. Owing to their custom nature, delivery of your purchase may take up to three weeks.
The Kongolese term for church was “Nzo A Nkisi”, or “holy house.” Before the arrival fo the Catholic missionaries in the Kongo Kingdom, the same term, nzo a nkisi, was used to refer to “the grave.” That is to say, the Kongo people believed in a strong connection between the dead (ancestors) and God. It’s then no coincidence that a number of praise houses in the Antebellum South were located near or around graveyards and burial sites.