Saudi Arabian Artist Makes World’s ‘Largest Coffee Painting’

A handout picture released by the Guinness World Records on October 18, 2020 shows the world's largest coffee painting by Saudi artist Ohud Abdullah Almalki depicting founding fathers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the late King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman and the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in Jeddah. / AFP / Guinness World Records /
A handout picture released by the Guinness World Records on October 18, 2020 shows the world's largest coffee painting by Saudi artist Ohud Abdullah Almalki depicting founding fathers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the late King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman and the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in Jeddah. / AFP / Guinness World Records /
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Saudi Arabian Artist Makes World’s ‘Largest Coffee Painting’

A handout picture released by the Guinness World Records on October 18, 2020 shows the world's largest coffee painting by Saudi artist Ohud Abdullah Almalki depicting founding fathers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the late King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman and the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in Jeddah. / AFP / Guinness World Records /
A handout picture released by the Guinness World Records on October 18, 2020 shows the world's largest coffee painting by Saudi artist Ohud Abdullah Almalki depicting founding fathers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the late King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman and the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in Jeddah. / AFP / Guinness World Records /

A Saudi artist has created the world’s “largest coffee painting,” becoming the first woman from the country to achieve a record title single-handedly, the Guinness World Records announced Sunday.

Ohud Abdullah Almalki used expired coffee to illustrate renowned leaders from the kingdom and the United Arab Emirates for the 220 square meter piece.

“It took me 45 days of continuous work to complete, under the watchful eyes of two witnesses, video recording and drone footage,” Almalki said, according to a Guinness World Records statement.

The artwork, titled “Naseej 1” (meaning “Woven Together”) was created in the Saudi city of Jeddah on a canvas of seven connected cloths.

It features the late King Abdulaziz bin Saud and the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, respectively.

Below them is a series of smaller portraits of other leaders from the two Gulf countries, while the whole work is bordered in the traditional “Al-Sadu” style of Bedouin decoration, AFP reported.

“My aim is to remind the world of the centuries-old entente between the two nations,” Almalki said.

The artist used approximately 4.5 kilograms of expired coffee granules to complete the painting, according to the Guinness World Records statement.

Almalki said she hopes that her accomplishment “will contribute to empowering the women in Saudi Arabia and beyond.”

It is the first time a Saudi woman has achieved a record alone, Guinness World Records said, though others have taken part in previous attempts.



Himalayan Snow at 23-year Low, Threatening 2 billion People

Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
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Himalayan Snow at 23-year Low, Threatening 2 billion People

Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP
Snowfall in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water - AFP

Snowfall in Asia's Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain range has reached a 23-year low, threatening nearly two billion people dependent on snowmelt for water, scientists warned in a report on Monday.

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan range, which stretches from Afghanistan to Myanmar, holds the largest reserves of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctica and is a vital source of fresh water for about two billion people.

Researchers found "a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence (the time snow remains on the ground) 23.6 percent below normal - the lowest in 23 years," the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said.

"This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people," it said in its Snow Update Report.

The study also warned of "potential lower river flows, increased groundwater reliance, and heightened drought risk", AFP reported.

Sher Muhammad, the lead author of the ICIMOD report, told AFP that "this year the snowfall started late in January and remained low in the winter season on average".

Several countries in the region have already issued drought warnings, with upcoming harvests and access to water at risk for populations already facing longer, hotter, and more frequent heatwaves.

The inter-governmental ICIMOD organisation is made up of member countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

It urged countries that rely on the 12 major river basins in the region to develop "improved water management, stronger drought preparedness, better early warning systems, and greater regional cooperation".

The Mekong and Salween basins -- the two longest rivers in Southeast Asia supplying water to China and Myanmar -- had lost around half of their snow cover, it noted.

Pema Gyamtsho, ICIMOD's director general, called for changes in policy to address the low snow levels in the long term.

"Carbon emissions have already locked in an irreversible course of recurrent snow anomalies in the HKH (Hindu Kush-Himalayas)," Gyamtsho said.

Asia is the region most affected by climate-related disasters, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organization, which reported last month that five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat on record.