/
RSS Feed
In the heart of Kinshasa’s Botanical Garden, something extraordinary is unfolding: life-sized cardboard animals—gorillas, leopards, giraffes, and monkeys—come to life at the hands of black-clad puppeteers. They begin to move slowly, almost cautiously, before breaking into a sprint through the trees. This is The Herds, a moving theatrical spectacle that blends art, activism, and environmental urgency.
Launched in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Herds follows a symbolic migration of animals fleeing climate change. From the Congo to the Arctic, the cardboard troupe will journey across continents, making stops in cities along the way. At each destination, more animals will join, and local artists will take part in reshaping the performance.
The message is stark: global warming is driving wildlife out of their habitats, displacing them just as rising waters displace communities. The setting could not be more poignant—just meters from the performance, parts of the Botanical Garden are submerged in floodwaters from a recent storm that devastated Kinshasa, leaving dozens dead and much of the city inaccessible.
“We want to raise awareness,” said Congolese filmmaker Tshoper Kabambi, who is producing the Congo leg of the tour. “Nature is essential to us, but we often take it for granted. Look around—floods, deforestation, global warming—it’s all happening right now.”
The project’s starting point in Congo is deliberate. The Congo Basin rainforest, the second largest in the world after the Amazon, is a crucial part of Earth’s climate system. Yet, it receives far less global attention. The Herds seeks to change that.
The production is led by Amir Nizar Zuabi, the artistic force behind The Walk, a 2021 project that brought a towering puppet of a refugee girl named Little Amal across 15 countries to raise awareness about migration. With The Herds, Zuabi and his team hope to ignite a similarly powerful global conversation about climate justice, starting from the Global South and moving northward.
“This is a story that begins in the Congo but will be told in cities all over the world,” Zuabi said. “From Kinshasa to Oslo, this project connects cultures, communities, and conversations. What happens in the Congo matters everywhere.”
As the cardboard animals continue their journey, their silent flight becomes a loud call for action—a reminder that climate change knows no borders, and neither should our efforts to confront it.
