Walk with Amal
Little Amal, a young refugee, embarked on a remarkable journey – an epic voyage that took her across Turkey, across Europe, from July to November 2021. To get back to school. To start a new life. Now she takes her next steps beyond The Walk: a travelling festival of art and hope in support of refugees.
From the Syria-Turkey border across nine countries all the way to Manchester in the UK, The Walk brought together celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, grass-roots community groups, humanitarian organisations and civic and religious leaders, united to achieve one of the more extensive, innovative and adventurous public artworks ever attempted.
At the heart of The Walk is Little Amal, a 3.5 metre-tall puppet of a young refugee girl. Representing all displaced children, many separated from their families, Little Amal travelled over 8,000km in search of her mother embodying the urgent message to the world “Don’t forget about us”.
Their project built on the incredible gestures of solidarity that have taken place in Europe ’s streets and open spaces in the pandemic times – from singing on Italian balconies to neighbourhood mutual aid groups to Black Lives Matter marches. By walking through Europe’s open spaces and inviting people to join her, Little Amal reminded Europeans that their streets can be spaces of curiosity, wonder and welcome, as well as spaces of storytelling and theatre, and that by feeling safe and comfortable in them they can – together! – create a new shared story of care and support across borders.
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