Puppet art to mark the Holocaust

They are creating the artwork for a procession to take place in Huddersfield on Thursday 25 January as part of a programme of events for Holocaust Memorial Day.

People from the Dewsbury area are working with 6 Million+ Charitable Trust, supported by the University of Huddersfield, and Creative Scene, an Arts Council England funded project, to create the Weeping Sisters.

Delegates from Italy, Serbia and Poland involved in a EU funded Europe for Citizens project with the Trust will take part in the procession.

The European group, together with Holocaust survivor Iby Knill and pupils from Batley Girls High School will remember the events of the Holocaust and compare the treatment of refugees during that time with the experience of contemporary refugees across Europe.

Parveen Butt, community and participation lead for Creative Scene, said: “We have been exploring the hidden histories of minority groups as we looked at the persecution of the Roma people during the Holocaust.

“It has been a real pleasure to work with this group of individuals from all of our different communities. We are learning about each others stories, our clothes, our food, as we work with professional artists to create the giant puppets.”

Parveen said the programme in Huddersfield will begin at 6pm at St George’s Square with giant puppets on procession in the streets, with music and singing from five cultures, to remember the Holocaust and the Kurdish and Bosnian genocides of Halabja and Srebrenica.