A walk from Antep to Manchester: Meet Little Amal

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In a couple of weeks, a little girl will embark on a long walk from Turkey's Antep province in the southeast to Manchester in the United Kingdom (UK). The name of this 9-year-old girl is Little Amal.

Little Amal is, in fact, a 3.5 meter-tall living artwork of a Syrian refugee child who will travel 8,000 kilometers in support of refugees.

The giant puppet at the heart of "The Walk" project will walk across Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the UK to focus attention on the urgent needs of young refugees. 

The UK-based theater group Good Chance, in collaboration with Handspring Puppet Company, has created "The Walk", a travelling festival of art. 

Representing all displaced children, many separated from their families, Little Amal will begin her walk in Antep on July 27.

Little Amal's next stops in Turkey will be Antep, Adana, Mersin, Tarsus, Karaman, Antalya, Denizli, Selçuk, Urla, izmir, Çeşme. From Çeşme, she will then walk towards Europe through Chios Island.

While her walk will continue till November 3, in every village, town and city that she will visit, Little Amal will be met by artists and civil society organizations in public cultural and art events and activities.

The Artistic Director of The Walk is Nizar Zuabi, its producer in Turkey is the İstanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and cultural director is Recep Tuna. One of the partners of the project in Turkey is the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (SGDD-ASAM).

As for its ambassadors in Turkey, they are actress Bergüzar Korel and her spouse and actor Halit Ergenç. Gillian Anderson, Jude Law, artist Anish Kapoor are some of the other ambassadors of the project.

Speaking about the project, Artistic Director of "The Walk" Amir Nizar Zuabi has briefly stated the following:

It is because the attention of the world is elsewhere right now that it is more important than ever to reignite the conversation about the refugee crisis and to change the narrative around it. Yes, refugees need food and blankets, but they also need dignity and a voice. The purpose of The Walk is to highlight the potential of the refugee, not just their dire circumstances. Little Amal is 3.5 metres tall because we want the world to grow big enough to greet her. We want her to inspire us to think big and to act bigger.

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(AÖ/SD)