Record-breaking painting makes this Saudi Arabian woman go down in history

45 days of work. This is what it took the Saudi artist Ohoud Abdallah Almalki to complete this colossal work. Colossal first of all because of its dimensions: the work is 15.84 meters long and 13.95 meters wide, covering 220 square meters on the ground. Colossal by its importance then: it makes the artist the first Saudi woman to enter solo in the Guinness Book of Records.

 

A work heavy with meaning

The work represents the founding fathers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It is actually composed of seven cotton pieces connected to each other. The artist used about 4.5 kg of expired coffee powder to make it. She painted the figures in shades of brown, mixing the coffee powder with water, all under the watchful eye of two witnesses, video recording equipment, and a drone to immortalize the moment.

 

Woman Sets New Guinness Record, Makes World's "Largest Coffee Painting" https://t.co/PgWaHhlTRg pic.twitter.com/IUEs41tDJy

— NDTV News feed (@ndtvfeed) October 18, 2020

 

With this choice of drawing, the artist wished to remind the world of the age-old understanding between the two nations. Her motivation, she explains, was to “contribute to the emancipation of women in Saudi Arabia and beyond”.

Let’s recall that in 2015, 8264 Saudi women had achieved the largest human ribbon of breast cancer awareness.