The giant Amal puppet, symbol of refugee children, arrives in Paris
The giant puppet Amal during its passage through the city center of Brussels, October 7, 2021. © HADRIEN DURE / BELGA / AFP
Text by: Carmen Lunsmann
2 min
It is 3.5 meters high and covers 8,000 km and 8 countries - from Turkey to England - through a traveling festival called "The Walk".
Amal (hope in Arabic), a giant puppet that represents a little Syrian girl, is the symbol of all refugee children in the world.
Born in the heart of the “jungle” of Calais, the migrant camp in the north of France, from a play in 2015, Amal is disembarking these days in Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis.
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Wherever she sets foot, it is the same welcome: “
It's little Amal!
- Amal, Amal, Amal ...
"Sparkling eyes of children and moved faces of parents.
Where is she from ?
“
I don't know, but my mistress said she's been around the world.
"
Its mission: to make Europe aware of the plight of migrant children.
“
She is looking for her mother,”
the children answer with one voice.
She has already been to Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and there she is in France.
"
The problem of refugee children
Designed by a puppet company in South Africa and supported by humanitarian associations and artists such as Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor or Oscar-winning actor Jude Law, Amal gracefully wanders the streets or embarks on a treasure hunt.
Claire Béjanin, producer of
The Walk
, this walk of Amal in France.
“
So here, she comes to Aubervilliers in Seine-Saint-Denis where there is a very diverse, dynamic and very young population and it seemed very important to us to really make the problem of refugee children visible: that they have the right to a life, to be children, to play, to have access to education and to be themselves.
"
Amal's Hope
Shedding light on the crisis of minor migrants through a work of art accessible to all, it is Amal's hope who dreams of a better world.
Amal will leave Paris on Friday October 15 and continue her journey through France to Calais from where she will set sail for England.
The walk
The Walk
will end in early November in Manchester.
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