The Walk, an international arts festival meets endurance event, saw Little Amal, a 3.5 metre-tall puppet, walk across the European continent to shine a light on the stories of millions of young refugees. She travelled through 8 countries, was welcomed by hundreds of cultural events in cities, towns and villages all along her route. The length and sheer size of the challenge captured imaginations worldwide. She walked for all the children – many unaccompanied and separated from their families – who are forced to undertake extraordinary journeys under life-threatening conditions. Little Amal walked so that we didn’t forget them.

Project Details

  • Organization : Handspring Puppet Company, Good Chance, Producers David Lan and Tracey Seaward
  • Motto : Amal means ‘hope’ in Arabic. There are tens of thousands of Amals, boys as well as girls, who need to find their way into education and to rebuild their lives. “We’ve long believed that artists, grass roots communities and civic society leaders should come together to make art that matters in the real world. The Walk is that coming together.”
  • Target groups : Refugees
  • Address : Duke of York’s Theatre St Martin’s Ln, WC2N 4BG, London, United Kingdom
  • Website : https://www.walkwithamal.org
  • Phone : +44 20 7922 2994
  • Email : office@littleamal.org
  • Instagram : http://instagram.com/walkwithamal

Activity, Art and Social

Little Amal, a young refugee, embarked on a remarkable journey – an epic voyage that took her across Turkey, across Europe. To get back to school. To start a new life. From the border of Syria to Manchester. Over 8,000 km. 65 cities, towns and villages. Over 100 events of Welcome. July – November 2021. Now she takes her next steps beyond The Walk…

Success of the Cooperation

All along the route, communities were offered a simple idea: Little Amal is a 9-year-old girl whose journey takes her through your town, city or village. How will you welcome her? As each locality responded with cultural events that were meaningful to them, the result built an artistic odyssey that showed something profound about ourselves, about how we live and about what we mean by home.

Services Offered to the Artist

Little Amal travelled with a team of puppeteers, technicians and videographers representing at least 12 countries. Along the way she was also joined by a team of producers and logistics managers local to the places where she was welcomed.