Hundreds of life-sized animal puppets have embarked on a 20,000 km (12,400 mile) journey from Central Africa to the Arctic Circle in an ambitious project launched by the creators of Little Amal, the giant puppet of a Syrian girl, which has toured many parts of the world.
The community arts initiative, known as “The Herds,” which has already visited Kinshasa and Lagos, will visit 20 cities over four months to raise awareness of the climate crisis. This is the second major project from The Walk Productions, which introduced Little Amal, a 12-foot-tall puppet, to the world in 2021 in Gaziantep, on the border of Turkey and Syria. The award-winning project, founded by Palestinian playwright and director Amir Nizar Zuabi, has reached 2 million people in 17 countries as it traveled from Turkey to the UK.
The Herds project began its journey on April 10 at the Kinshasa Botanical Garden, kicking off four days of events. It then traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, a week later, where more than 5,000 people attended performances by more than 60 puppeteers.
On Friday, more than 40 puppets of zebras, wildebeests, monkeys, giraffes and baboons filled the streets of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, as they ran through one of the city’s busiest districts, the Medina, where they encountered the work of Belgian-born, Senegalese-based Fabrice Monteiro, known for his large-scale sculptures. On Saturday, the puppets will take part in an event in the fishing village of Ngor. The first animal puppets were made by the Ukwanda Puppetry and Designs Art Collective in Cape Town, South Africa, from recycled materials, but at each location, local volunteers are being trained to make their own animals based on prototypes provided by Ukwanda. The project has already attracted huge interest from people wanting to get involved. In Dakar, more than 300 artists have applied to join the 80 artists and puppeteers. The project will involve around 2,000 people making the puppets.
“The idea is that we are constantly migrating with an ever-evolving, ever-growing herd of animals,” Zuabi told the Guardian last year.
Zuabi described “The Herds” as a continuation of Little Amal’s journey, which was inspired by refugees who often cite climate catastrophe as the reason for their forced migration. “The Herds” focuses on the environmental crisis and encourages communities to organize their own events to discuss the project’s importance and engage in climate activism. “The idea is to show people that there is an emergency – not with scientific facts, but with emotions,” said “The Herds” Senegalese producer Sarah Desbois.
She expects thousands of people to attend the four events over the weekend. “There is no tradition of puppetry in Senegal. Once the project started and people saw pictures of the puppets, they were completely captivated.” The growing team of “The Herds” will travel from Dakar to Morocco, then to Europe, London and Paris, and is expected to arrive in the Arctic Circle in early August.
