There is no way to peace….peace is the way!
There is no way to peace….peace is the way!
November 4, 2023 / Balboa Park / San Diego – Little Amal is a 3.5-metre (11 ft) 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 there was no problem. On the South Bank in London, she walked side by side with Handspring’s Joey the War Horse.
The Walk was a “travelling art festival … which [was] a 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[ed] displaced children, who [had] been separated from their families, and by travelling over 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) they hope[d] that Little Amal [would] share 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”
From the Syria-Turkey border all the way to the UK, The Walk brought together celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations, creating one of the most innovative and adventurous public artworks ever attempted, all in support of refugees.
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”.
The puppet, Little Amal, is 3.5 m (11 ft) 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.
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 traveling 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”
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 Zuabi 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”.
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 there was no problem. On the South Bank in London, she walked side by side with Handspring’s Joey the War Horse.
Amal Walks Across America is partnering with Welcome.US, Students Rebuild, Welcoming America, Libraries Without Borders, American Federation of Teachers, and others to involve school-age kids in the journey. Available in English, Spanish, Arabic, and other languages, the free curriculum will be available at WalkWithAmal.org and include activities and challenges that explore Amal’s journey from her home in Syria to the many steps of her migratory journey.
Amal arrives in San Ysidro, a border neighborhood in San Diego, at Living Rooms at the Border, 114 W Hall, on Nov. 4 at 11 a.m. to collect a message for migrant families living across the border in Tijuana. She walks through the UCSD-CASA Community Station welcomed by the local community and a parade of dancers, musicians, and students.
– La Jolla Playhouse will take Amal on a joyous adventure in Balboa Park starting near The Old Globe Plaza on Nov. 4 from 2-3 p.m. to celebrate the power of theatre and the city’s rich cultural diversity. In partnership with La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls program.
Exhausted from the day’s commotion, Amal is caught between wakefulness and sleep. She can’t believe her eyes when magical creatures appear… Is she still dreaming? In partnership with Imagine Brave Spaces, Monarch School Performance Ensemble, Voices of Our City Choir, Majdal Center, and Chicano Park Steering Committee, Amal will visit Chicano Park on Nov. 4 at 5 p.m.
Amal is yearning to play with other children at South Mission Beach on Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. when she discovers the remnants of cherished belongings that have been washed ashore. As she listens to the sea, she thinks about the millions of refugee children across the world, who, like her, are searching for a better life. In partnership with Blindspot Collective, Students Rebuild, ArtPower at UC San Diego, and Medecins Sans Frontieres – Doctors Without Borders.
The puppet, meant to represent millions of displaced children, has toured more than a dozen countries and will continue westward as part of its tour of the United States. Amal’s persona was conceived as a character in “The Jungle,” an award-winning play based on a French migrant camp that drew global attention in 2015.
Amal is finishing her journey of the United States in San Diego, before crossing the border and continuing into Mexico.
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