Bennett Oghifo As climate change conversations intensify, waves of initiatives and programmes designed to inspire appropriate actions to curtail the causes and effects of this phenomenon are sweeping across the globe. THE HERDS, a particularly unique and intriguing initiative in this category, blends art with climate advocacy and will visit major cities worldwide in 2025, including Lagos, Nigeria . Produced globally by The Walk Productions, THE HERDS is a public art and climate project featuring life-size puppet animals fleeing their ecosystems in response to a rapidly changing climate that’s adversely affecting their well-being and way of life.
For years, scientists, leading world organisations, and various NGOs have called for meaningful collective climate action. THE HERDS is doing the same, but with a focus on creating experiences and evoking emotions that will make people care enough to take responsibility. As Amir Nizar Zuabi, Artistic Director of THE HERDS, notes: “Our aim is to create an emotional reaction to the climate crisis because we believe this is the only way to make people care.
We believe that awe and beauty is the missing spark that leads us from curiosity to change.” The plan is to construct zoologically accurate puppet animals from recycled materials and then travel with them through major cities across the globe, creating a public spectacle that arouses interest, drives participation, and ultimately inspires change. These puppets will journey 20,00.
