Little Amal, The Walk

Little Amal is a partly-animatronic giant puppet which was used as the centrepiece of a performance art project called The Walk in 2021. The project was created by the British production companies The Walk Productions and Good Chance in collaboration with the South African Handspring Puppet Company. With the intention of celebrating human migration and cultural diversity, the puppet was carried during five months from the Syria-Turkey border via Europe to the United Kingdom, and walked and took part in locally arranged events in 65 towns and cities along the way. Little Amal was greeted at some venues by local dignitaries, such as Pope Francis, Vincent Nichols Archbishop of Westminster and Cllr Caroline Makinson, Mayor of Barnsley.

The puppet's Little Amal persona originated as a character in ''The Jungle'', a play created in the former Calais jungle encampment in 2015. The name ''Amal'' means "hope" in Arabic. Little Amal represents a nine-year-old Syrian refugee girl who, in The Walk project, travels alone across Europe to find her mother. "Dozens" of designers and craftspeople combined to create the puppet, which is controlled by at least three puppeteers: two to move the hands, and one interior puppeteer who walks on heavily-weighted stilts, and controls the head, eyes and mouth by hand via a mechanism called ''the harp''.

In some areas, Little Amal's reception was mixed, with some racist or even violent responses, but in most towns the performance was a joyful occasion. On the South Bank in London, she walked side by side with Handspring's Joey the War Horse.

The Walk

The Walk was a "travelling art festival ... which asa celebration of migration and cultural diversity", organised by the British production companies The Walk Productions and Good Chance in collaboration with the South African Handspring Puppet Company. The artistic director was Amir Nizar Zuabi, and the producers were Stephen Daldry, David Lan, Tracey Seaward and Naomi Webb. The project involved "celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations". The event consisted primarily of a puppet representing a displaced refugee child who was fleeing from war and separated from her family, walking across Europe to find her mother, and wishing to attend school: "The puppet represent ddisplaced children, who adbeen separated from their families, and by travelling over they hope that Little Amal ouldshare the urgent message from all young refugees ''Don't forget about us''".

The founders of Handspring Puppet Company, Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, have said, "The story of refugees is so important for the whole world. Many countries are on the move because of conflict, climate change, farmers that can't work anymore through lack of rain. It's the big story of our time. Because it's an outdoor event, The Walk has the potential of bringing people together again. At a moment when theatres are struggling to re-open this is something everyone can be a part of". Project director Amir Nizar Zuabi said, "The purpose of The Walk is to highlight the potential of the refugee, not just their dire circumstances".

2021 itinerary

''Note:'' The dates below cover not only the dates of Little Amal's passage via 65 towns and cities across Europe and the UK, but also those of other events organised in connection with The Walk project.

* Turkey 27 July – 8 August. In Gaziantep, Little Amal followed a path of lanterns to a dance with live music and a suitcase of gifts for the journey. In Çeşme, she followed a path of shoes to the sea, where many refugees had lost their lives.
* Greece, 9 August – 5 September. In Chios there were songs in Little Amal's honour, and in Ioannina, light boxes illuminated words of encouragement. At Katsikas refugee camp, Amal was greeted by refugee children.
* Italy, 7 – 19 September. In Sanremo there were artistic installations and musical events. In Bari, Amal was met by a ''nonna'', or grandmother-figure, who imparted words of wisdom. In Rome she was greeted by Pope Francis, who took her hand.
* France, 21 September – 17 October. In Marseille an epic dance, titled ''When the Waves Have Come and Gone'', took place.
* Switzerland, 28–29 September. Little Amal was photographed outside the United Nations building in Geneva, and visited CERN.
* Germany 1 – 4 October. In Stuttgart Little Amal was entertained by the 5-metre-tall puppets of Dundu.
* Belgium, 6–10 October. Here, Little Amal handed over "a mountain of letters to the European Parliament in the Belgian capital, all drawing attention to the difficulties experienced by uprooted refugee children". She visited Antwerp, where she met the Reuskens van Borgerhout (little giants of Borgerhout), Brussels and Bouillon.
* United Kingdom, 18 July – 3 November.
:* UK venues included: Folkestone 19 October, where Little Amal was greeted by Jude Law who held her hand, Dover 20 October, and Canterbury 21 October where a Refugee Tales project was hosted by Niamh Cusack, and Little Amal walked in procession from Canterbury Cathedral to the University of Kent campus.
:* Little Amal visited London between 22 and 24 October. On the South Bank Little Amal was greeted by Joey the War Horse puppet, which accompanied her on the South Bank walk. London venues included: Lewisham and Royal Docks 22 October, St Paul's Cathedral, Globe Theatre, Southbank Centre, Royal National Theatre, Somerset House 23 October, Victoria & Albert Museum where Little Amal celebrated her 10th birthday, Trafalgar Square, Roundhouse 24 October, and Westminster Cathedral 25 October, where Little Amal was greeted and given a blessing by Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster.
:* The other UK venues were: Oxford 26 October, where she was greeted by a similarly sized puppet of Alice, Coventry 27 October, Birmingham 28 October, Sheffield 29 October, Barnsley 30 October, Rochdale 2 November, Wigan 2 November, and Manchester 3 November, where she was welcomed at Old Trafford.

Little Amal visits Coventry, 27 October 2021 06.jpg, Little Amal at Coventry Cathedral
Little Amal by Martin Whitehouse.jpg, Little Amal in Birmingham
Little Amal at Barnsley 30 October 2021 (7).JPG, The Mayor of Barnsley greeting Little Amal, in Barnsley
Little Amal and Anbesa visit Rochdale 2 November 2021 85.jpg, Little Amal with Anbesa the lion in Rochdale
Little Amal visits Manchester 3 November 2021 (2) 14.jpg, Little Amal among puppet birds in Castlefield Bowl, Manchester.

Puppet

The puppet Little Amal was created by Handspring Puppet Company, which built the puppets for the 2007 play ''War Horse''. The Little Amal character first appeared in ''The Jungle'', an award-winning 2015 play created by Good Chance in the ''Theatre of Hope'' dome in the former Calais Jungle, which was an unofficial refugee camp outside Calais.

There are three identical Little Amal puppets, created to allow simultaneous events at different locations. They were constructed for the 2021 passage and carried between venues. They were presented as one puppet and were not seen together. Separately, they performed short walks in each location, taking part in events arranged locally. The puppet design represents a nine-year-old Syrian female refugee named Little Amal, ''amal'' being Arabic for "hope".

Construction and puppeteering

The puppet, Little Amal, is tall, and is constructed of cane, carbon fibre, and other light materials. Three or four puppeteers control the puppet. Two control the arms via poles attached to the hands, one optional puppeteer supports the back, and the interior puppeteer stands on stilts within the legs, controlling body movements. The interior puppeteer also controls facial expression via equipment called "the harp". The puppet's eyes are controlled by a small computer; thus she is partly animatronic. Some of the puppeteers controlling the arms in 2021 were former refugees who were hired in Calais. "Dozens" of designers and craftspeople combined to create the three puppets which represent Little Amal. Ten pairs of stilt-legs were created, to fit ten different puppeteers.

Little Amal at Barnsley 30 Oct 2021 (1a).jpg, The interior puppeteer, installed on the stilt legs
Little Amal at Barnsley 30 October 2021 (46).JPG, Puppet with three visible puppeteers
Little Amal at Barnsley 30 October 2021 (32a).jpg, Interior puppeteer
Little Amal at Barnsley 30 October 2021 (19a).jpg, The puppet's face

Response

Emotional response to the puppet

There has been a human emotional response to this animatronic puppet. After welcoming Little Amal in Westminster Cathedral, the Cardinal of Westminster Vincent Nichols said, "Well, it's very strange, actually. Half of me says, ''come on, this is a puppet''. And half of me found myself speaking to her. So there's something very creative in what we saw this afternoon. It wasn't just a puppet – though it was – but it kind of embodies a whole dimension of our human family that is travelling lost, at risk and in danger. And yet still with the kind of innocence that you would expect of a young child. So I think there was a strong emotional presence and a pull that somehow, in her gestures particularly, was expressed. I think that touched everybody".

Political response to The Walk

''The Guardian'' said, "From being pelted with stones in Greece to receiving a papal welcome in Rome, the giant girl's migrant trek from Syria to Manchester provoked powerful responses". Producer David Lan said, "If I was to say to you we had nothing but warmth and support along the journey, it would not be true... but what Little Amal seems to do is take the experience of people who are quite brutally marginalised and put it in the centre. This is about goodwill. It is an opportunity for people to be sympathetic and imagine what it would be like to be her." Meanwhile, in Greece the local councillors did not allow the Little Amal puppet, as a representation of a Muslim child, to visit the Greek Orthodox monasteries of Meteora – however the people of a nearby town showed support. In Larissa, right-wing protestors threw stones at Little Amal, hitting also some of the 300 children who had made and brought their own puppets to The Walk. On the other hand, artistic director Zaubi said, "The positives have outweighed the negatives... We have seen a lot of generosity. We're doing this project to celebrate our shared humanity... People are flocking to see her".

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* (Photographs by photojournalist David Levene of Little Amal in London, including a picture of Little Amal with Joey the War Horse)
* (Contains a video of the Cardinal of Westminster describing his experience of meeting the Little Amal puppet)
* (Document setting out plans for The Walk)

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Animatronic attractions
Human migration
Performance art
Puppetry