By Naadiya Adams [Twitter: @Miss_Naadiya]

In 2021, the 3.5 metre-tall living artwork of a young Syrian refugee child will walk across Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the UK to focus attention on the urgent needs of young refugees. Though the journey is set to take place in Europe, Little Amal was made right here in South Africa.

The project forms part of the The Walk International Arts Festival, as the puppet makes her way across the eight countries, stopping at cultural events in cities, towns and villages along the way. Manchester in the United Kingdom will be her final destination.

The Handspring Puppet Company, who built the giant puppet says, while they have made many large puppets Little Amal was a first for them. Adrian Kohler, art director and co-founder of the company described how the vertical puppet was different from what they’d done in the past. “We didn’t know what we were building.”

Large walking puppets are usually supported by cranes, he says, but this time, a puppeteer will be inside the puppet, on stilts, carrying most of the weight.

The puppet was built by a team of six at the Muizenberg workshop. It weighs around 30kg and is made of carbon fibre. The hair is made from Tyvek, a durable and flexible artificial paper that can catch the air and blow in the wind. There is a small computer in the eye mechanism, controlled by a joystick.

To operate Amal, four puppeteers will need to control her at a time, says Kohler: one person on stilts inside the puppet who will control walking, head movements and facial expressions; two people who will stand alongside Amal controlling the arms and hands; and a fourth person who will act as back support.

He says controlling Amal will be “exhausting”, as she will not only need to walk, but also dance, interact with people and “watch” other performances.

Handspring’s work has been presented in more than 30 countries around the world. The company is widely recognised as South Africa’s pre-eminent puppet theatre company with work spanning four decades of creating theatre for adults and children.