She has met the pope, held hands with the Young Pope (Jude Law) and has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram. In the past two years Little Amal has become a global symbol for human rights – and she is only 10 years old.
At 3.5 metres tall, the partly animatronic giant rod puppet representing a young Syrian refugee girl has traversed 15 countries and visited 90 cities. In March she will mark her first visit to the southern hemisphere, with funding from the South Australian and federal governments bringing her to the 2024 Adelaide festival.
By then, more than 2 million people will have met Little Amal, whose name means hope in Arabic. The Walk project, which began on the Syria-Turkey border in 2021, seeks to highlight the plight of millions of refugees across the globe, and in particular the displaced children fleeing war zones and poverty, with the message “don’t forget about us”.
The Walk has so far raised A$1.4m, which goes towards support for refugees and displaced children, including education, food, shelter, emergency medical care and legal assistance.
The Walk’s artistic director, Nizar Zuabi, said he was anticipating a warm welcome for Little Amal during her inaugural visit to Australia, as an act of welcoming a stranger.
“I think that’s part of what we’re trying to create when walking into places that have a beautiful, complicated, defining history,” Zuabi said.
“Amal, a symbol of millions of children, transforms a simple walk into a deeply meaningful act. As a community breathes together and walks alongside Amal on the streets, it becomes an expression of unity and shared humanity.”
A $2.3m injection of funding into the Adelaide festival has facilitated the Little Amal trip to Adelaide. On Wednesday the federal arts minister, Tony Burke, announced an additional $119,340 for the project as part of its $500,000 2024 International Cultural Diplomacy and Arts Fund.
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said that as the grandson of Lithuanian and Hungarian refugees he understood “the profound impact” of Australia opening its collective heart to the plight of refugees and migrants.
Little Amal was designed and built by the South Africa-based Handspring Puppet Company, which attract global acclaim for its creation of Joey the horse in the Broadway and West End hit play War Horse.
The puppet is controlled by four puppeteers, one moving each arm, one supporting the spine and one inside the structure, walking on stilts and controlling its facial expressions.
Little Amal will make her debut at Adelaide’s Festival Plaza on Friday 15 March before joining a march by Port Adelaide football club fans before an AFL game and participating in the festival’s two-day climate crisis event Floods of Fire at the University of Adelaide.
