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Artworks
Paul Weinberg South African, b. 1956
There are about 3 million foreign Africans living in South Africa who practise a multiplicity of faiths wherever they find sanctuary, Nigerian Church site, Signal Hill, Cape Town, Western Cape, 2019-21colour digital archival print on Hahnemühle Photo rag 308 gsm papersheet size: 59.4 x 84.1 cmedition 10+2APsigned and numbered in pencil in the marginThere are about 3 million foreign Africans living in South Africa, among which is a group of about 30 000 Nigerians. On Signal Hill in Cape Town, a group of...
There are about 3 million foreign Africans living in South Africa, among which is a group of
about 30 000 Nigerians. On Signal Hill in Cape Town, a group of Nigerians meet daily to pray
and practise their faith. These are not members of the well-known and often large “prophet
healing” Pentecostal churches for which Nigeria is famous and that South Africans often see
on televangelism shows. Using a small pile of rocks as a pulpit and seating themselves in a
clearing around it, these practitioners spend many hours quietly singing and praying in their
native languages. Xenophobia, marginalisation and the need for self-identity all contribute
to the proliferation of small church groups such as these.