New art rock style, giant refugee puppet and Twitter as a safe space

To dramatize and draw attention to the plight of child refugees, British activists will make a 3,5-metre-high puppet of a refugee girl and make it walk 8 000 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border to Manchester. Dubbed as Little Amal, it will start its travel in March. Before concluding it in July, it will visit more than 70 towns, villages, and cities where it will be welcomed by local art exhibitions, parties, and community events.

Nigerian LGBT+ youth are using Twitter to fight homophobia and shape their public image and identity, according to Paul Onanuga from the Federal University, Oye Ekiti. They consider Twitter as a safe space, create microblogs, share, and re-take the narrative by expressing themselves and their sexuality. They use words like “homo”, “gay” or “queer” in a self-accepting way. Twitter is also used by the anti-homophobic activists in a country that marginalizes the LGBT community.

The scientists from the Australian Griffith University for the first time described a rock art style called Maliwawa Figures. Human figures on it are often depicted with animals, especially kangaroos, wallabies, snakes, birds, and longtom fish. Interestingly, some of the paintings show people holding animals or seem to present animals watching or even participating in the activities of humans. Discoveries of paintings are made by the research teams working with local Aboriginal communities. First Maliwawa Figures were found in 2008-2009.