Gaziantep Castle, July 27th, 2021
The Walk is a 4 month long 8,000 km journey by a 3.5m puppet of a 9-year-old Syrian refugee girl called Little Amal from the Syrian-Turkey border to the UK in search of her mother. Between 27 July and 3 November 2021, in each village, town or city she visits Little Amal will be welcomed by major new arts commissions, city-wide community performances and intimate events. All events are free and have been designed by The Walk in collaboration with each local partner to create one of the most adventurous public artworks ever attempted. Audiences will be able to follow Little Amal’s journey online and across social media, as well as joining in with events in their local area.
Little Amal represents the millions of displaced refugee children separated from their families. Her urgent message to the world is “Don’t forget about us”. Produced by Stephen Daldry, David Lan, Tracey Seaward and Naomi Webb for Good Chance Theatre, the producers of The Jungle, in association with the Handspring Puppet Company, the creators of the War Horse puppets, and led by Artistic Director Amir Nizar Zuabi.
It takes three puppeteers to operate Little Amal; a stilt walker who also brings her face to life and one on each of her arms. There is a total team of ten puppeteers, including two from refugee backgrounds who have themselves travelled the route. The puppet is crafted from moulded cane and carbon fibre.
The Walk Education Programme
The Walk has developed an Education Programme which will connect young people from refugee and host communities to forge bonds of friendship. The programme includes:
•A 70+ page Education & Activity pack and Teachers’ Notes in six languages featuring illustrations by Syrian artist Diala Brisly. This can be downloaded from The Walk’s website.
•A series of free online education events for teachers and educational leaders
•“Make With Amal” – an online engagement programme of art activities inspired by Amal’s route.
The Walk brings together celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations as well as municipalities, civic and humanitarian organisations, faith leaders and schools. For a full list of partners please click here.
>>The full programme is available on The Walk’s website.