Where do your left-over coffee granules go when you’ve finished making your morning Nespresso? Well, they might be in a new piece of art, created by Ohud Abdullah Almalki, the first Saudi woman to achieve a Guinness World Record.
The Jeddah-based artist uses expired coffee to create images, and has been awarded one of the world’s highest accolades for her creative work, which depicts the founding fathers of the UAE and KSA, the late King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman, and the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
“It took me 45 days of continuous work to complete, under the watchful eyes of two witnesses, video recording and drone footage,” Ohud said. “My aim is to remind the world of the centuries-old entente between the two nations.”
Naseej 1 by Ohud Abdullah Almalki
The artist used approximately 4.5 kg of expired coffee powder to create the piece, which she has titled Naseej 1. It is spread over 220.968 square meters, 15.84 meters long, and 13.95 meters wide.
“Normally, only one kind of coffee is used in such paintings, but I have used for different shades of brown coffee. I used several rollers and paint brushes of different sizes to finish this project,” she says.
Women of Saudi Arabia have made several attempts to claim a Guinness World Record, but this marks the first time that a Saudi woman has earned the honour on her own.