LONDON
A giant puppet of a Syrian refugee child created to symbolize millions of displaced children landed Tuesday on the coast of southeast England on the last leg of a 5,000-mile (8,000-kilometer) journey across Europe from the border of Syria.
‘Puppet Theater Workshop’ begins
The 11.5-foot (3.5-meter) puppet named Little Amal — a name meaning “hope” in Arabic — was greeted by actor Jude Law on the Folkestone seafront.
The puppet, operated by three people, has travelled through much of Europe after setting off from the Turkish-Syrian border in July and has been greeted by thousands of people along the way, including Pope Francis in Rome.
“Little Amal is 3.5 metres tall because we want the world to grow big enough to greet her,” said Amir Nizar Zuabi, artistic director of project. “We want her to inspire us to think big and to act bigger.”
Little Amal was created by Handspring, the company that made the equine puppets for hit West End and Broadway theater show “War Horse.” The puppet was designed as part of The Walk, a traveling festival of art and hope to raise awareness of the problems faced by young migrants.
The idea of Little Amal’s journey in search of her brother evolved from “The Jungle,” a play about migration and displacement produced by Good Chance Theatre, set in a camp in northern France where migrants gather hoping to reach Britain.
