Paper short abstract:

I intend to emphasize how kimbanguist women ascribe meaning to ‘places’ and express their way of being in the world, highlighting how these meanings are the outcome of diverse intersections between religious allegiance and other social and cultural perceptions of belonging, underpinned by notions of Africa, Europe and womanhood.

Paper long abstract:

Marching downtown Lisbon is an important moment for the kimbanguists while celebrating Christmas. They intend not only to announce the presence of this religious faith to the Portuguese society, but overall to bring God's word, purify and publicize salvation through the faith in Simon Kimbangu. Based on twelve months of fieldwork with the Kimbanguist Church in Portugal, I intend to highlight how kimbanguist women conceptualize 'space', where different senses of belonging to Africa and Portugal, co-exist, overflow and juxtapose themselves.

The meaning and appropriation of 'place' shift as the women that dwell in this community create specific senses of belonging and invoke (in different manners) domains such as religion, kinship, conjugality, social networks and community, thus inviting us to reflect on notions related to recognition, citizenship, identity, embodiment and performance and how these are expressed through religious and quotidian levels of experience.