Steve's Odyssey Absolute copy

Most of us, to some extent, remember the stories we were told as children – fragments of fictional tales designed to engender good behaviour, or simply fuel our imaginations. For Robert Koenig, growing up in the suburbs of Manchester, the stories were all too real – rich tales of his mother’s childhood in south-east Poland, full of community and characters, superseded as he grew older by the altogether darker narrative of her wartime removal to Germany, the hell of the labour camps and her eventual arrival in the UK.

For Koenig, the stories stuck, creating a desire to learn more, to see the country of his ancestors and to come to terms with his family history.

As a young man in the 1970s, he endured lengthy coach rides and the privations of communist Poland to rebuild the bond with his greater family. As his knowledge of that country grew, so did his realisation that he was shaped more deeply by his past : a sculpting contemporary of Anthony Gormley’s at London’s prestigious Slade School of Art, Koenig suffered for his instinctive – and unfashionable – decision to work in wood, a form which he was now to appreciate as a distinctly Polish tradition.

As he matured, Koenig sought his defining project and so in 1997 began carving a series of greater-than-life-size figures, initially called ‘Dziady’, the Polish name of a ceremony celebrating the memory of deceased ancestors, but since renamed ‘Odyssey’ for what has become an international audience. A mass of figures to represent the ancestors he never met, they are ‘monumental’, although rather than crying out for attention, they appeal to the viewer on a more intimate, empathetic level, often inspiring strong emotions from those who come into contact with them.

‘Odyssey’ finally arrived in the UK in 2006 and was honoured by the Brighton Festival Fringe in that year. At the sculptors request they are currently touring unconventional venues – including a series of churches and cathedrals - in the UK, reaching out to ‘ordinary’ people rather than being cosseted in a gallery.

Koenig has always looked for new ways to display his work and the Odyssey tour also majors heavily on music, encouraging local players to engage in a ‘conversation’ with the work. In the film showing here, saxophonist Tony Rose provides an improvisation inspired by the figures (including the introductory music in the piece) and acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Phil Thornton is seen interacting with the figures during their Brighton stay.

For further information : www.robertkoenig-sculptor.com

A film of Robert Koenig’s tour to the Ukraine – ‘Dziady – In Search of Jan Dudek’ - will be released later this year.
For further information: info@cheekyfilms.co.uk

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