Giant refugee puppet arrives on UK shores
▶ Little Amal is reaching the end of ‘The Walk,’ a four-month journey from Turkey to Britain, writes
Agiant moving puppet that has traversed Europe over four months on stilts reached UK shores on Tuesday in the final leg of an 8,000-kilometre journey. Little Amal, the 3.5-metre marionette representing a Syrian refugee girl aged 9, began her voyage in Gaziantep along the Syrian-Turkish border and carried on through Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and France.
British actor Jude Law was on hand to greet the giant puppet in Folkestone, Kent, where she arrived from Calais, a route commonly taken by people seeking refuge in the UK.
The Bafta award-winner is one of a host of high-profile ambassadors of The Walk, which he has previously called an “inspired idea” that he hopes will bring “muchneeded attention to the lives of so many people young and old that seek refuge.”
Created by Good Chance Theatre, The Walk is Little Amal’s expedition to Manchester in search of her mother, “shining a light on the millions of displaced refugee children she represents”, say the organisers.
“The attention of the world is elsewhere right now, which makes it more important than ever to reignite the conversation about the refugee crisis and to change the narrative around it. Yes, refugees need food and blankets, but they also need dignity and a voice,” says Amir Nizar Zuabi, the project’s artistic director. He says Little Amal’s colossal size is meant to inspire people to “think big and act bigger”.
According to data provided by the United Nations child rights agency Unicef, children make up less than a third of the global population, but nearly half of the world’s refugees.
More than 33 million children had been forcibly displaced by the end of 2020, including about 13 million child refugees and about one million asylum-seeking children. An estimated 3.7 million child refugees live in camps or collective centres.
Like the many thousands of
The attention of the world is elsewhere right now, which makes it more important than ever to reignite the conversation about the refugee crisis
AMIR NIZAR ZUABI Artistic director, Good Chance Theatre
people who have made perilous cross-Channel journeys to seek refuge in the UK this year, Little Amal will take her first steps in England on the beaches of Folkestone before making her way to the capital.
An array of citywide community performances will mark the tail end of the “travelling festival of hope” when Little Amal visits London from today until Monday, including events at St Paul’s Cathedral and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.
“We can’t wait to welcome
Little Amal,” tweeted the Royal Opera House, where an evening vigil will be held and the giant puppet will “sleep” for the night.
A party to celebrate Little Amal’s 10th birthday will take place at the Victoria and Albert Museum, with children from across London in attendance and a birthday cake made by well-known chef Yotam Ottolenghi.
“Every show I’ve produced has been preparation for producing The Walk,” says David Lan, a producer at Good Chance Theatre.
“We‘ve long believed that artists, grassroots communities and civic society leaders should come together to make art that matters in the real world. The Walk is that coming together.”
It takes three puppeteers to operate Little Amal – a stilt walker who also animates her face and a puppeteer on each of her arms. The entire team of 10 puppeteers includes two from refugee backgrounds who have themselves travelled the route.
Built by the Handspring Puppet Company, a preeminent puppet production company best known for its work on the hit play War Horse, Little Amal was built from moulded cane and carbon fibre that allows her to be operated for long periods and under various weather conditions.
Little Amal will also visit various cities in the UK before finishing The Walk in Manchester on Wednesday, November 3, with a finale event produced by Manchester International Festival.