The giant puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl is walking through today (June 24). The living artwork will be situated outside Bristol Old Vic on King Street at 4pm before her journey through the Welsh Back, St Nicholas Market and Corn Street.
Visitors are welcome to join as there will be music and performances by local artists. Amal will also meet with local communities - before leaving the city at the Harbour.
Little Amal was designed to highlight the plight of child refugees and became an international symbol of human rights after she journeyed from the Turkish-Syrian border to Manchester last July. On Sunday, the 3.5m puppet began her New Steps New Friends tour, visiting 10 towns and cities across England to share her resilient and hopeful message: “Don’t forget about us.”
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Bristol Old Vic Artistic Director Tom Morris said: "We are excited to welcome Little Amal to Bristol to meet the community, to see our beautiful city and to find out more about Bristol’s status as a City of Sanctuary.
"Amal travels everywhere with a spirit of curiosity. By welcoming her to Bristol we will also learn from her, understanding more about our own complicated past and our dream of being a fairer and more welcoming city in the future."
Artistic director Amir Nazir told the PA news agency: “The whole project stems from the idea that refugees are thought of as a problem, when actually they’re not, they’re potential.
“By walking with Amal through cities and through communities, creating a big art spectacle and creating big moments where the community can gather and think of itself and how it receives others, proves the case that refugees shouldn’t be regarded as a burden. The awareness to the plight of refugees is always crucial.”
To meet Little Amal on her journey, gather outside Bristol Old Vic from 4 pm and join her as she walks through the streets of Bristol. She has already walked across Clifton Suspension Bridge early this morning.
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