The Walk Announces Events Across 8000km Route

The Walk is a 4 month long 8,000 km journey by a 3.5m puppet of a 9-year-old Syrian refugee girl called Little Amal from the Syrian-Turkey border to the UK in search of her mother. Between 27 July and 3 November 2021, in each village, town or city she visits Little Amal will be welcomed by major new arts commissions, city-wide community performances and intimate events. All events are free and have been designed by The Walk in collaboration with each local partner to create one of the most adventurous public artworks ever attempted. Audiences will be able to follow Little Amal's journey online and across social media, as well as joining in with events in their local area.

Highlights of the 100 events:

• Little Amal's journey begins in Gaziantep with an outdoor light installation of Qanadil lanterns. Slowly, one lantern at a time, the city will become illuminated, revealing a path of light for Little Amal to follow;
• In Cesme, Little Amal will follow a path of empty shoes that leads her to the beach. This art installation - created by K2 Contemporary Art Centre - represents the many thousands of people that have lost their lives on the perilous sea crossing;
• In Ioannina partners from Greece and beyond will come together to bridge the 7km gap between the buzzing city centre of Ioannina and the Katsikas refugee camp, with an outdoor installation of lights and words;
• Alone in Athens, Little Amal becomes afraid of losing her way. She ties a thread of bright red yarn to a lamp post and leaves a trail as she walks through the city. Coming face to face with a minotaur puppet created by UNIMA-HELLAS, she has to decide whether she will face her fear and befriend the beast;
• In Bari, Little Amal is greeted by a large puppet of an Italian Nonna who shares some wisdom for how to overcome the obstacles she might face on the rest of her journey;
• As she arrives into Rome, Little Amal's lost homeland is alive in her thoughts. Memories of war rise to the surface, as paintings by Syrian visual artist Tammam Azzam are projected onto the buildings surrounding Little Amal;
• Following a walk through Marseille's port and bridges, Syrian filmmaker and visual artist Ammar al-Beik will present Little Amal with a jacket, beneath the mirrored canopy of the Vieux Port Pavilion;
• In Paris, a refugee camp installation will be created outside the Institut du Monde Arabe and Amal will explore the rows of tents, searching for signs of home. From each tent she will see and hear glimpses of shadow art and soundscape, representing the many countries that refugees have journeyed from;
• In Brussels, dancers, parkour and circus artists will come together with some of the city's world-renowned choreographers to create a dance piece exploring Amal's traumatic memories of home;
• The Ruhfestspiele Festival will lead the community of Recklinghausen in the creation of a 'road of welcome' across the city, with painted pebbles displaying messages of welcome and hope for Little Amal;
• In London, Little Amal is turning 10. Her birthday begins with a dawn chorus performance at the Royal Opera House followed by a birthday party at the V&A Museum, with children invited from across London. Her big day ends with a walk through Central London where she will receive birthday messages from the many friends she has met along her journey;
• Little Amal's arrival in Manchester marks the end of her epic journey. Manchester International Festival will present a special exhibition exploring childhood, created with local schools and refugee communities. As Amal explores the exhibition, she will understand that she is ready to begin a new, even longer, journey: creating a new life in her new home.

Little Amal represents the millions of displaced refugee children separated from their families. Her urgent message to the world is "Don't forget about us". Produced by Stephen Daldry, David Lan, Tracey Seaward and Naomi Webb for Good Chance Theatre, the producers of The Jungle, in association with the Handspring Puppet Company, the creators of the War Horse puppets, and led by Artistic Director Amir Nizar Zuabi.

It takes three puppeteers to operate Little Amal; a stilt walker who also brings her face to life and one on each of her arms. There is a total team of ten puppeteers, including two from refugee backgrounds who have themselves travelled the route. The puppet is crafted from moulded cane and carbon fibre.

The Walk has developed an Education Programme which will connect young people from refugee and host communities to forge bonds of friendship. The programme includes:

• A 70+ page Education & Activity pack and Teachers' Notes in six languages featuring illustrations by Syrian artist Diala Brisly. This can be downloaded from The Walk's website: http://www.walkwithamal.org/education/activity-pack/

• A series of free online education events for teachers and educational leaders
• "Make With Amal" - an online engagement programme of art activities inspired by Amal's route.

The Walk is launching a Kickstarter campaign which invites the public to help to fund Amal's journey at £1 per step. Rewards include digital postcards, Walk t-shirts, exclusive zoom events with The Walk cast and crew and original artworks by Good Chance Ensemble artist Majid Adin:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/goodchance/the-walk-the-most-ambitious-public-artwork-of-our-time

The Walk brings together celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations as well as municipalities, civic and humanitarian organisations, faith leaders and schools. For a full list of partners please visit: http://www.walkwithamal.org/friends/

The full programme is available on The Walk's website: http://www.walkwithamal.org/events/.

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