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This Artist is the First Saudi Woman to Singlehandedly Achieve a Guinness World Record

Ohoud Abdullah Almalki'

Artist Ohoud Abdullah Almalki’s painting. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

Artist Ohoud Abdullah Almalki has become the first Saudi Arabian woman to achieve a Guinness World Record title singlehandedly. The Jeddah-based artist, also known as the ‘The Artist of the Nation’, did so by creating the world’s largest painting made entirely of coffee. Almalki made use of expired granules to illustrate seven leading figures of the Kingdom and neighboring UAE.

Titled Naseej 1 (meaning woven together), the remarkable painting is made up of seven linked cotton cloths, spans over 20.968 square meters, and is 15.84 meters long, and 13.95 meters wide. It features the founding fathers of the Kingdom and UAE, the late King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman, and the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Other rules from Saudi Arabia and UAE featured in the painting include King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Almalki made use of approximately 4.5kg of expired coffee powder and mixed it with water to paint the rulers in hues of brown. The edges of the painting are done in the traditional Bedouin decoration style known as “Sadu.” “It took me 45 days of continuous work to complete, under the watchful eyes of two witnesses, video recording and drone footage,” Almalki said, as per a Guinness World Records statement. “My aim is to remind the world of the centuries-old entente between the two nations.”

“Normally, only one kind of coffee is used in such paintings, but I have used 4 different shades of brown coffee. I used several rollers and paint brushes of different sizes to finish this project,” she shared. “This tremendous feat would have been impossible without the support of the people around me. I wish this will contribute to empowering the women in Saudi Arabia and beyond,” the artist added.

Read Next: These Saudi Women Prove That There is Nothing Stopping Them

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