International puppet of hope Little Amal visiting Birmingham, Montgomery & Selma this week

Shannon Heupel, Montgomery Advertiser
·4 min read
1

Little Amal is anything but little, and that includes the message of hope the 12-foot-tall puppet and her team will have in Alabama as they visit Wednesday through Friday, Oct. 11-13.

Stops and events are scheduled in Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma — part of a two-month, 6,000-mile trek across 40 cities in the U.S. this fall. Amal Walks Across America began Sept. 7 in Boston, and will continue until Nov. 5 in San Diego.

“Amal is a symbol of hope, and it’s all about the refugees and the feelings of displacement,” said Montgomery artist Chintia Kirana, who is organizing part of Little Amal’s visit to celebrate art, hope and humanity. “But I feel like for us, especially in a place like this in Montgomery, we all experience loss and trauma, and we’re all just trying to heal. With Amal, what we’re collaborating on is a piece to reflect this. A piece that recognizes the universal idea of loss and displacement.”

The puppet is made in the image of a 10-year-old refugee girl from war-torn Syria, whose name Amal translates from Arabic to "hope." It’s on a global journey with many teams supporting it. In 2021, it went through cities, towns and villages across Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the UK. Last year, Little Amal and team visited Ukraine, Poland and the Netherlands, before coming to the U.S. on a journey through New York City.

Little Amal, a 12-foot-tall puppet of a ten-year-old Syrian refugee child, will make three stops in Alabama this week — Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma.
Little Amal, a 12-foot-tall puppet of a ten-year-old Syrian refugee child, will make three stops in Alabama this week — Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma.

“They’re an international group, and when they tour they work with local artists and partners that are in the city,” Kirana said.

According to organizers, Little Amal’s walk represents hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people of all ages looking for safety, half of whom are children.

"Our hope for Amal is that she can spur conversations in communities across the country around the important role of refugees and newcomers in writing the ongoing story of the United States,” said The Walk Productions artistic director Amir Nizar Zuabi in a release.

Little Amal will dance and walk with youths as part of her Alabama visits Oct. 11-13 in Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma.
Little Amal will dance and walk with youths as part of her Alabama visits Oct. 11-13 in Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma.

Little Amal’s Alabama schedule

  • On Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 5 p.m., Little Amal will be welcomed in at City Walk BHAM for “When the Children Gather,” in a dance that runs from 18th to 21st streets. It’s inspired by the 1963 Children’s Crusade, with musician Lonnie Holley.

  • Birmingham events continue at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 12, with “Melting Pot” at Sloss Furnaces, 20 32nd St. N. With heavy drum beats playing on, Amal will take part in a ferocious iron pour.

  • At 10 a.m., “March On!” crafting activities take place at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, 520 16th St. N.  Little Amal arrives at 11 a.m. Alabama Poet Laureate Ashley Jones will wish Amal a safe journey. A children’s march will lead to Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, 1530 6th Ave. N. There they’ll pay respects to the children who died in the 1963 bombing.

  • Little Amal arrives in Montgomery on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 5 p.m. at the state Capitol. As Amal and her team walk down Dexter Avenue toward the Court Square Fountain, she and her team will explore historic landmarks and visit with iconic figures.

  • On Oct. 12, a pre-event is being held in Montgomery 7 p.m. at the Capri Theatre. It’ll host a free screening of the film “Simple As Water,” an award-winning documentary that shares the story of Syrian families impacted by decades of war. Director Megan Mylan will be there, and will host a question and answer session.

  • On Friday, Oct. 13, Little Amal will join hands in the Selma community for “Honor The Steps” at 11 a.m., to retrace the steps of the footsoldiers along the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

  • Kirana, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child from Jakarta, Indonesia, will have a piece on Friday, Oct. 13, with Little Amal called “Some Broken Things Can Be Mended.” The puppet will gather fragments of a broken eggshell, and asks for help to mend it. Kirana’s piece represents the unexpected strength that lies in vulnerability. The multidisciplinary event will take place at historic Five Points in Montgomery’s Cottage Hill community. It will feature performances by Montgomery artists, including the band Electric Blue Yonder, a choir in the audience and local high school arts students.

  • From Montgomery, the giant puppet and her team will journey west to New Orleans.

“We’re only with them for a short amount of time, but we’re trying to make sure that everybody knows about it because it is such an important message,” Kirana said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for communities to come together.”

During Little Amal's visit to Montgomery, the 12-foot-tall puppet will participate in a artistic event called "Some Broken Things Can Be Mended."
During Little Amal's visit to Montgomery, the 12-foot-tall puppet will participate in a artistic event called "Some Broken Things Can Be Mended."

How to help

Donations are accepted through The Amal Fund to provide refugees and migrants with academic training, education, food, shelter ad medical services. Donations are accepted at: https://donate.chooselove.org/campaigns/walks-amal-fund/

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Little Amal puppet visiting Montgomery during Alabama tour this week