‘The Herds’ is a new puppet production by The Walk Productions set to start in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo in April. The puppets are being designed in Cape Town by the Ukwanda Puppetry and Design Collective.
Hundreds of life-sized animal puppets will be performing in cities from Central Africa to the northern tip of Norway to raise awareness about climate change.
Titled ‘The Herds’, this large-scale public art project will see the puppets performing with choreographers, artists, musicians and climate activists.
The puppets have been in the works since January 2024 and are being designed by Cape Town-based Ukwanda Puppetry and Design Collective. Ukwanda was founded in 2019 under the mentorship of the celebrated Handspring Puppet Company which is best known for its productions of ‘Ubu and the Truth Commission’ and West End hit ‘War Horse’.
The project is supported by the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape.
Launching on 9 April, the performances will start in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The troupe of puppets will then migrate to major cities in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, France, Denmark and finally end at the Arctic Circle in Norway.
Puppetry designer Craig Leo explains their goal was to create eco-friendly puppets in order to make it as sustainable as possible.
Cardboard is used for the skin, plywood for the skeletal structure and recycled tyre rubber for the joints. Over 10 animal species including zebras, gorillas, chimpanzees and vervet monkeys will be featured in the performances.
The animal puppets are designed to be life-sized. Over 10 animal species have been made.
Leo explained that the puppets being built in Cape Town will not necessarily be the same ones to perform in each of the countries. The Ukwanda models will act as prototypes that will be reproduced as the production travels to different countries.
The skeleton of the animals is made of plywood that has been laser cut. It is then easily assembled, similar to DIY furniture.
Leo says that they’ve had to create a digital guide for the assembly of each puppet. For example, they’ve designed the plywood skeleton to be laser cut and easily clipped together.
The pace at which they have to build and test the prototypes will be the most challenging aspect of this project, Leo says. “It’s unprecedented to make these many puppets in a year.” And on top of that, they have to teach people they’ve never met how to build the puppets.
‘The Herds’ is produced by The Walk Productions, the same team behind the iconic tall puppet representing a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl called Little Amal. This puppet travelled to 17 countries and met with over 2-million people since she started her journey in 2021.
Artistic Director of The Walk Productions, Amir Nizar Zuabi at the Ukwanda Puppetry and Design Collective workshop in Cape Town. Zuabi says he got the idea for ‘The Herds’ whilst working on his previous project ‘Little Amal’.
Amir Nizar Zuabi, Artistic Director of The Walk Productions says that whilst working on the Little Amal project, many of the refugees they met were climate refugees. “They were not fleeing a war. They were fleeing famine and destruction of the natural environment. And their stories are vilified.”
Zuabi says climate destruction will cause massive waves of human migration, but we can already see this happening with animals “leaving habitats and disappearing from habitats,” he says.
“There’s loss of biodiversity, there’s loss and loss and loss and loss, and it’s all connected.” This is what inspired the concept around ‘The Herds’.
Zuabi says that many people have become numb and apathetic to climate change. With ‘The Herds’, they hope to evoke an emotional reaction in people. “I’m trying to make people look at their city differently,” he says.
More than 250 puppets will be built for ‘The Herds’ at various locations during their journey. They are expecting to journey 20,000km and perform in 25 towns and cities across 10 countries.
Siphokazi Mpofu, puppetry designer at Ukwanda, has been making puppets for over 10 years. She says that one of the most challenging things to control with these puppets is the legs. “You need to understand how the animals walk naturally,” she says.
The larger puppets, like the elephant and giraffe, require three people to control them. One person controls the head from the outside, while two people control the front and back legs from the inside. “It’s very challenging, and it needs focus… it needs to feel as if there’s one person controlling the entire puppet.”
Mpofu says they hope the puppets pique people’s curiosity while also raising awareness about the environment.
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