‘Little Amal Walks’ 12-Foot-Tall Syrian Refugee Puppet Begins Her New York City Journey This Fall

From September 14th by means of October 2nd, Little Amal, a large puppet of a ten-year-old Syrian refugee lady, will journey to New York Metropolis, arriving at JFK Airport and exploring the 5 boroughs. Little Amal Walks NYC, in partnership with St. Ann’s Warehouse, is a city-wide occasion the place the puppet will meet with artists, civic leaders, group teams and viewers members of all ages. Little Amal has already traveled 9,000km throughout 12 nations since July of 2021, representing all youngsters fleeing struggle and persecution. The puppet requires 4 puppeteers and was designed and constructed by Handspring Puppet Company. It’s crafted from supplies resembling carbon fiber in order that it may be operated in several circumstances. The Firm additionally created the puppets used within the play Struggle Horse.

I spoke with Yazmany Arboleda, Artistic Producer of Little Amal Walks NYC, and Amir Nizar Zuabi, Creative Director of The Stroll Productions.

Risa Sarachan: Are you able to inform me concerning the origin of Little Amal?

Amir Nizar Zuabi: The Amal story started with many conversations with individuals who had made the brave journey fleeing from struggle or persecution throughout huge distances on the lookout for refuge. As theatre folks, we have been eager to discover a option to honor this expertise which has been shared and continues to be shared by many tens of millions. We determined to recreate a journey made by Syrian and different refugees throughout Turkey and Europe to the U.Ok. and determined that the principle character on this gigantic work of theatre ought to be a really giant puppet of a refugee little one.

We commissioned Handspring Puppet Firm of South Africa as a result of we knew how profitable they’re at creating puppets that generate an emotional response due to the element of their design and their authenticity. We invited artists and humanities organizations alongside the path to welcome Amal as she entered their village, city and metropolis. The great response she had from tons of of 1000’s within the streets and tens of millions extra on-line led us to plan additional journeys and additional festivals of artwork and love for her to guide.

Sarachan: Why is it essential to convey Amal to New York Metropolis?

Zuabi: New York, like america as an entire, is an unlimited community of immigrants. America is an experiment in create a society by which every particular person is valued in their very own proper and for their very own particular qualities. We’re assured that New York Metropolis will welcome Amal with enthusiasm. Now we have already had great proof of this. We really feel it can be crucial for the world to see by means of a theatrical occasion how an amazing metropolis can open itself with compassion to those that are susceptible and in want.

Sarachan: How did this partnership with St. Ann’s Warehouse come to be?

Zuabi: Certainly one of our producers, David Lan, has twice introduced his productions from London to St Ann’s (A Streetcar Named Need and The Jungle). He was assured that they’d be a robust and like-minded collaborator in bringing Amal to New York Metropolis. He invited St. Ann’s Warehouse Creative Director Susan Feldman and Normal Supervisor Erik Wallin to hitch Amal in her journey in Paris and London, and the choice was taken to launch Amal’s New York journey collectively.

Sarachan: How did you choose the place she is going to go all through her journey by means of the 5 boroughs?

Yazmany Arboleda: New York Metropolis is an unlimited mosaic of neighborhoods and communities that collectively kind probably the most numerous and vibrant metropolis on the earth. Little Amal symbolizes the urge to construct a greater life for your self, your loved ones and your neighbors, and that story resonates with so many new yorkers. The will to reside collectively in peace and to rejoice what unites us in our range is alive in each block of this nice metropolis, so we had many choices. We selected to deal with the locations which have impressed and proceed to encourage immigrants all over the world, and to collaborate with quite a few organizations which can be dedicated to elevating what it means to be a New Yorker. I hope to acknowledge the previous and write collectively the following chapter within the story of this metropolis. Every second is grounded within the sense of obligation to our group, a dedication to weaving bonds that make us stronger, fairer, and higher for the folks of in the present day and for the following era. Now we have been blessed to obtain the help of numerous native organizations, some world well-known and a few identified extra domestically, to construct a journey for Little Amal that’s reflective of the intricate richness of our group.

Sarachan: How do you hope this stroll educates New Yorkers on the refugee disaster?

Arboleda: We wish Amal’s stroll to focus on each the plight and the promise of immigration in the present day. New York Metropolis has all the time been a beacon for immigrants all over the world, a dwelling image of what’s attainable after we are capable of embrace one another’s variations and reside in concord, however many individuals appear to have forgotten that. Amal’s journey is a chance to focus on commonalities between the profitable historical past of immigration to America and the alternatives and challenges confronted in the present day by the tens of millions of people that reside in worry and poverty, together with victims of struggle, local weather change or tyranny. Immigrants all over the world in the present day have the identical drive as Individuals to construct an excellent life for his or her youngsters, to offer again to communities that acknowledge their shared humanity and welcome them of their midst. Refugees from distant lands could seem very international to us, however finally we share the identical values and the identical desires – all of us simply search a house the place we really feel like we belong.

This interview has been edited and condensed for readability.