Welcoming Little Amal to Lewisham

We’re excited to be part of Lewisham’s official celebration to welcome Little Amal to Lewisham on 15 October.

A 3.5m tall puppet of a young girl, Amal has walked across Europe from the Syrian-Turkish border to highlight the plight of child refugees scattered across the continent, many of whom are separated from their families and travelling unaccompanied.

Wherever she goes, Amal brings together local residents, artists and organisations in the spirit of celebration to create a “travelling festival of art and hope”. Lewisham is her first London stop, and she will be arriving in Deptford at 10am on Friday 22 October, where she will be met by local school children and accompany them around Deptford market.

To mark the occasion, we’re holding an exhibition at Deptford Lounge featuring 11 artists with lived experience of forced migration. The exhibition runs from 16-29 October (longer online), with art displayed both inside the library and in several of its windows. Most works in the exhibition are for sale.

Amal’s walk is a collaboration between Good Chance theatre, known for their play “The Jungle” (about Calais’ notorious refugee camp) and legendary puppeteers of War Horse, Handspring Puppet Company.