Little Amal a performance art piece visits out Canterbury campus after walking 8000km from Syria across Europe.
Standing 3.5 metres high, 9 year old refugee puppet ‘Little Amal’ had walked nearly 8000km from the border of Syria when she arrived at The Gulbenkian on the 21st October.
Her journey intended to focus attention on the urgent needs of millions of young refugees worldwide and the need to change the narrative around human movement, a powerful subject explored through the focus on Migration and Movement at Kent.
“Little Amal demonstrates the power of performance in politics.’ Dr Harmonie Toros, Reader in International Conflict Analysis said of the ambitious project, ‘The images of her giant yet tiny hand being held by people from across Europe poignantly shows us that the human desire to extend love and care is shared by millions across the world.’
Little Amal set out from Turkey’s Syrian border in July before passing through Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.
Produced by Good Chance Productions, Kent’s leg of The Walk was put together by our Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi).
The University of Kent is the only UK university hosting a leg of The Walk – one of the biggest international community arts projects ever produced. Our proximity to the Kent coast, directly corresponds to the hazardous journey taken by so many Internationally Displaced people travelling through Europe. After visiting Canterbury, she travels into London before her 8,000km journey ends in Manchester.
Read more about the project here.