Part of a city-wide celebration of Ana Maria Pacheco’s work, this powerful and topical installation is on display in the North Transept of Norwich Cathedral till September. It reveals its power slowly so give yourself time.
Shadows of the Wanderer comprises ten over life-sized painted wooden figures on a raised base. Each figure is carved from a single lime tree; the young man carrying an older man is also made of one piece of wood.
The installation references Aeneas carrying his father Anchises from the ruins of burning Troy as recounted by Virgil. The man carries his past on his back, unable to leave it behind, with resonances to issues of migration from conflict and exile so very relevant to us.
They move towards the future with hope, trepidation, regret for the past…
As Pacheco says, “I would like people to look at it and actually read what they feel and understand… It is the onlooker who completes the work.”
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