Huge puppet by teens represents 'hope for future'

A huge puppet designed by young people and more than 8ft (2.4m) tall is on display as part of an exhibition into folk stories, art, music and customs.

Teenagers from the group Young Folk worked with artist Amy Beck to create the moveable puppet called A'nu at Museum and Art Swindon in Wiltshire.

They said the puppet was designed to represent hope for the future, the environment and people.

Michael, 16, drew pictures of the design and said it was created from "all of the ideas from the young people mashed into one creature".

Designs by the young people were printed onto the fabric covering the willow frame with lyrics important to them on ribbons from A'nu's headress.

They described it as a "very, very tall creature of the woodland", similar to the Green Man from traditional folklore.

"It's a concept of what I thought it would look like," they said.

"I included charms and traditional decorations people have used throughout history to act as representation of traditions."

Young Folk, who designed A'nu over 10 weeks, made the puppet able to be worn like a backpack to control the arms.

The puppet can be seen at the museum and gallery in Swindon as part of the Un/common People project.

Stephanie Howell, community engagement officer at Swindon Borough Council, said it was "really important" that the group of young people made all the decisions.

A member of the group wrote a piece about A'nu that Ms Howell said "really moved" her.

It explained that A'nu is not meant to be one species, but part-animal, part-human, and does not have a gender.

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