You could not have predicted it after the defeat of Antigoon, but Antwerp has become a city of giants. On Friday evening, the city center was stormy for the passage of Little Amal, the lonely giant who travels on foot from Syria to England.
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Patrick Vincent
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The Opera Square in Antwerp is vast and so new that it has never been full. But on Friday evening around half past six, tram 1 had to drive very slowly and ring continuously so as not to upset anyone during its passage. A large crowd had eyes only for an intriguing figure who – 3.5 meters high – did not seem to realize what was happening to her before the opera.
Around her dancers frolicked and moaned, buzzed and sighed three singers. From the balcony of the opera, girls threw paper kites into the crowded square.
wonder
The giantess was called Amal, she was a young girl, fled from Syria and on foot to Manchester. She blinked and now and then her mouth dropped open in amazement at all the people who had come to welcome her. Children her age – 9 years, but of normal height – and a trio of whistling bicycle cops led her away from the opera, past the new Antwerp Tower and the new metro entrance, onto Leysstraat.
© Joris Herregods
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Because Amal was not allowed to do what demonstrators were allowed to: enter the city via the Meir. And just like a tour of a bygone era, she started a migration. Everyone wanted to join, wanted to follow her. Beyond those other Antwerp giants, Teniers and Van Dyck, motionless on their pedestals.
churning crowd
Amal stepped into it firmly, surrounded by children with kites and a swirling crowd. The Meir was a sea of people. Think: the busiest sales day and half of Holland on top of that. At the Inno an accordionist put On the Purple Heiss in. But the kids chanting “Love” and “Life” and “Amal” drowned out the musician. More children came from Otto Veniusstraat. And guided her past the Rubens House, to the Theaterplein.
–© Joris Herregods
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An even larger crowd of Amal was waiting there, thousands of Antwerp residents, together with two violinists, a cellist and double bassist. They danced, they sang, they cheered. The young Deurnese poet Esohe Weyden addressed the girl with a moving word of welcome. Then it was 8 o’clock. Bedtime.
If you still want to see the enchanting Amal, you should be in Borgerhout tomorrow.
ALSO READ: Little Amal has arrived in Antwerp: here you get to see the giantess
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