Little Amal: Coventry welcomes giant refugee puppet to city

27 October 2021

Crowds meet Little Amal — Image caption,
Large crowds gathered outside Coventry Transport Museum to welcome Little Amal

By John Bray

��ý News, West Midlands

Coventry has welcomed a giant puppet of a child to the city as it nears the end of a 5,000-mile walk from Syria to "rewrite the narrative about refugees".

Crowds of people greeted the 3.5m (11.5ft) puppet, named Little Amal, in the city centre on Wednesday afternoon.

The crowds grew larger as Little Amal made her way towards the centre of Coventry

Little Amal represents a nine-year-old girl on a journey, in a project called The Walk.

The puppet, whose name means "hope" in Arabic, started its 8,000km journey in Gaziantep, Turkey on 27 July and has travelled across Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and France.

Stephen Daldry, one of The Walk producers, said it had been called "perhaps the most ambitious public art project ever attempted"

Little Amal has been constructed by the Handspring Puppet Company, which previously made the equine stars of the stage version of War Horse

Producer Tracey Seaward said it would provide "great potential to rewrite the narrative about refugees"

Organisers said the aim had been to shine a light on the stories of the millions of displaced refugee children she represents.

Coventry, the current City of Culture, which is known as a city of peace and reconciliation, is thought to be home to about 1,500 people seeking refuge.

Organisers were taken aback by the size of the crowds in Coventry, the parade was due to last just 30 minutes, but took more than an hour

Julia arrived in the UK from Kenya

Julia, who arrived in Coventry from Kenya, said: "Amal is symbolic to a lot of us.

"I don't think people understand survival until they are put in a situation. You think 'why are you running? Why can't you go to the police?'

"Sometimes it's not a choice you have when you are just a common person."

The puppet, created from a moulded cane body and carbon fibre head, arms and legs, is operated by three people - one on a pair of stilts inside its body, and two others beside it moving its arms

There was a carnival atmosphere in Broadgate as Little Amal was surrounded by hundreds of well-wishers

Young people carrying placards in support of Little Amal's walk across Europe stood alongside the puppet

There is a total team of 11 puppeteers, including two from refugee backgrounds

After Coventry, Little Amal will visit Birmingham, Sheffield and Barnsley before the 14-week travelling street theatre ends in Manchester on 3 November.