London's often called a concrete jungle, and this June, it'll live up to that name, when an assemblage of life-sized puppet animals 'stampedes' its way across Tower Bridge and into the captial.
The Herds is an ambitious public artwork by The Walk Productions, featuring the puppets of elephants, giraffes, antelope and lions, made from the upscaled/recyclable likes of cardboard and plywood. It's a dramatically eye-opening way to put focus on climate change — the concept being that these animals are fleeing climate disaster.
Says The Herds' artists director, Amir Nizar Zuabi, "Through the beauty and ferocity of these life-size creatures, we aim to spark dialogue, provoke thought, encourage engagement and inspire real change."
The animals, controlled by puppeteers a la War Horse — began their journey in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in April, and have since visited Lagos, Dakar, Marrakesh, Casablanca and Rabat. The procession will now make its way through various European cities, arriving in London on Friday 27 June, and remaining here till Sunday 29 June.
Expect a dramatic entrance; the Herds will 'stampede' across Tower Bridge, before heading through Soho, and across the Strand to Somerset House. Along the way, there will be various performances, theatrical readings and music, including a show from the Royal Opera and an appearance by the cast of Matilda The Musical.
We're also promised a special performance devised by Sadler's Wells Associate Artist Alesandra Seutin, in which the animals will clash with dancers as they travel from Westfield Stratford City to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. A 'hunt' will also break out on Camden High Street. It all sounds rather emphatic and unmissable.
After visiting London, The Herds will make for Manchester, then head onwards to Scandinavia. In all, the art installation will travel 20,000km from Central Africa to the Arctic Circle (it culminates in Trondheim, Norway at the end of July), although understandably the puppeteers are not walking from city to city.
In some locations along the way, The Herds is picking up new, native species, such as vervet monkeys in Nigeria, wolves and red deer in Europe and reindeer in Norway.
The stunt bears similarities to the Sultan's Elephant, which paraded through London in 2006, as well as Little Amal, the 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl, which was last in London in spring 2023, and continues to journey across the globe.
The Herds in London, 27-29 June 2025, free
