Ambitious Mobile Artwork Will Travel From Africa to the Arctic Circle

"The Herds" will travel from Africa to the Arctic Circle to campaign against climate change

Makoko River, Lagos (Photo: Kashope Faje)

Last month, a pack of animals cascaded onto the banks of the Congo River. From afar, the giraffes, gorillas, wildebeests, and elephants that form the stampede seem real enough. Look closer, however, and the puppeteers emerge, gently manipulating animal limbs into fluid movement. These are the life-sized animal puppets comprising the public—and mobile—artwork The Herds.

In the coming months, The Herds will travel through cities across Africa and Europe, eventually culminating in the Arctic Circle in August. The four-month journey is ambitious in its sheer global scale, spanning 12,400 miles and 20 cities, beginning on April 9 in the Congo Basin. Since then, The Herds has already passed through Lagos, Dakar, Marrakech, Casablanca, and Rabat, staging encounters not only with the public, but with each city’s distinct culture. In Kinshasa, for instance, the puppets confronted the Nsango Mbonda drumming group, while in Casablanca, where animals often charge through the city center, they crashed into circus artist Bader Haoutar. In June, The Herds will tour Europe, with stops in Madrid, Paris, Venice, and London.

By July, the animals will have reached Scandinavia, traveling to Copenhagen, Stockholm, and, finally, Trondheim in Norway. The artwork will conclude in the Arctic Circle, with its “final powerful act” yet to be revealed. Along the way, other local species will join the stampede, including vervet monkeys in Nigeria, wolves and red deer in Europe, and reindeer in Norway, by which point the flock will have grown by 150 additional puppets.

The geographical breadth covered by The Herds is certainly impressive, but so is its message: these animals are fleeing the ongoing climate disaster, seeking shelter in the north. To complement this sense of urgency, the project is also engaging climate organizations like WWF, Wild Africa, Save the Elephants, and TED Countdown, alongside zoologists, climate activists, universities, scientists, and politicians. Each city will be home to specific interventions as well, addressing the myriad ways that climate change impacts different regions around the world. In Madrid, for example, The Herds will consider Spain’s increased flooding in collaboration with Compañía Nacional de Danza.

The Herds is the second project of its kind from Walk Productions, who, in July 2021, launched its Little Amal artwork. Depicting a massive, 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian girl, Little Amal has traveled to 166 towns and cities in 17 countries, shedding light on the refugee crisis.

“The Herds is a living, breathing call to action that stampedes across continents,” Amir Nizar Zuabi, Palestinian playwright and artistic director of the project, says. “Through the beauty and ferocity of these life-sized creatures, we aim to spark dialogue, provoke thought, encourage engagement, and inspire real change.”

To learn more about The Herds, visit the project’s website.