Enchanted Garden, Pacheco’s new series of eight polychromed and gilded alabaster reliefs, reflects the artist’s long interest in the famous medieval alabasters in the V&A and in the Castle’s own collection, and her friendship with the late Francis Cheetham, Head of the Museum, who wrote the definitive book, English Medieval Alabasters. This was the first public showing of these recently completed works and they were installed on the balcony of the Norman Keep near to a new case of some of the Castle’s own medieval alabasters. During the time they were exhibited, there were about 150,000 visitors to the Castle, of which total we estimate that about 75,000 saw the alabasters.
Audiences in the two Cathedrals are likewise much higher than we, or indeed they, predicted. Peter Doll, the Canon Librarian at Norwich Cathedral, besides giving the Lent Sermon on the work, wrote the following:
‘We also continue to be struck by the impact the sculptures have on our visitors. No sooner have we put out a few hundred of the free leaflet than they have disappeared. We’ve lost track of the number of times we’ve had to
photocopy more. The catalogue that goes with them has been a big seller in our shop. The lunchtime talk that we put on after the installation attracted 130 people even though Ana Maria Pacheco was not able to be there on the day. I cannot remember a time during visitor hours when there have not been people studying, walking around, and photographing the installation. It has certainly brought a new audience to the Cathedral – people who have come to see the art, but who then have also noticed the power of its context (so unlike what it would have in a ‘white cube’) and gone on to see the rest of the building. As a result of this installation, we have an audience that sees the Cathedral in a new light – as a place that not only engages with contemporary artists but also places them in the context of an ongoing tradition of art in and for sacred space.’
