LITTLE AMAL

Amal Walks Across America: one little girl, one big hope.

For 9 weeks in fall 2023, Americans across the USA will encounter Little Amal, the 12 foot puppet of a 10 year old Syrian refugee child who has become a global symbol of human rights, especially those of refugees.  Her journeys are festivals of art and hope that draw attention to the huge numbers of children feeling war, violence and persecution, each with their own story.

Little Amal's journeys are produced by David Lan and Tracey Seaward for The Walk Productions in association with Handspring Puppet Company. The Walk Productions Artistic Director is Amir Nizar Zuabi, the Associate Artistic Directors are Khadijat Oseni and Enrico Dau Yang Wey, and the Executive Producer is Sarah Loader. THE OFFICE is the USA producing partner for Amal’s 9 week journey across the country, visiting over 35 cities, towns and villages and creating multiple partnerships in each city that will create more than 100 welcome events.

Little Amal is designed and built by Handspring Puppet Company, creators of the puppets of the international hit War Horse, which established them as one of the most important puppet companies in the world.

Amal will meet over 500,000 people creating meaningful engagements for 4,000+ local participants, employment for 1,500+ artists, and educational activities for around 250,000 young people. The travel route from the Northeast to the Southwest will express some of the range of diversity of communities and identities of present-day America.

She will visit some of the country’s most iconic sites, such as the U.S. Capitol, Boston Common, Joshua Tree National Park, and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. More than 100 artistic partners will curate local events that reflect the uniqueness of their community, welcoming Amal as she passes through on her journey. Leading cultural institutions will also welcome Amal at each stop, as well as elected and civic leaders, arts and community groups, and school children. National partners for Amal Walks Across America, including the American Library Association, Welcoming America, and the American Immigration Council, will also leverage their resources to help Amal reach hundreds of thousands of people at artistic-led events throughout the U.S.

Little Amal is probably the most extensive public art project yet staged. This traveling festival of hope is created by inviting artists, cultural and humanitarian organizations, civil society and faith leaders as well as schools and colleges to welcome Amal, a Muslim child, in a way that is authentic and meaningful to that locality.

Amal has now participated in 240 Events of Welcome in 13 countries and most recently a 3 week residency in New York City in October 2022. An independent assessor estimates she has engaged live with 1 million and 10s of millions (perhaps a billion) online.  She also estimated that 550,000 children have engaged with Amal through the education pack which has been downloaded 10s of thousands of times in 65 countries.   

“The Walk” has been described as “one of the most ambitious live artworks ever staged” (The Observer 2021) and “one of the year’s most ambitious pieces of theatre” (New York Times 2021).  It was named "Best Theatre of 2021" by the London Observer and won the Time Out "Best Public Artwork" award. Amal has become “an international symbol of human rights” (The Guardian 2021). She has acquired a vast social media following on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  The video of her arriving at JFK Airport in September was viewed more than 16.6 million times on Instagram. 

By producing highly ambitious theater with our locally-led partnership model, we aim to forge unexpected relationships and unlikely alliances so as to spark resonant engagements with the range of challenging situations in which vulnerable immigrants and refugees find themselves as they attempt to create viable lives in villages, towns and cities across the world.  Working with openness, respect and playfulness, we aim to share Amal’s urgent message to the world: "Don’t forget about us."

SELECTED PRESS MENTIONS:

• The Guardian: Meet Little Amal, the puppet girl refugee about to walk 8,000km

• The New Yorker: Little Amal, a Symbol of Refugees

• New York Times: Four Months, 5,000 Miles: A Refugee Puppet Looks for Home

• USA Today: Syrian children have faced war and famine. A giant puppet named Little Amal is telling their story.

• BroadwayWorld: Little Amal, the 12-Foot-Tall Puppet of a Syrian Refugee Girl, to Walk Across America

• Associated Press: Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a Syrian refugee, will travel the US