NECROLOGY

Koçi’s feature debut is a parable on the relationship between intellectuals and power, art and dictatorship. Medieval Albania: the King has commissioned a monumental statue from a sculptor. The finished product depicts a horse composed of two parts without a rump. The King is absent from the inaugural ceremony, and the monument is unveiled by his consort. Only she and the sculptor know that the King is dead. Attempting to keep secret the monarch’s death, the Queen eats enough for two, and keeps up the pretence until only the skeleton of her husband remains. And although the people only ever set eyes on their Queen, they continue to cheer the King in their oblivion.