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.



Poachers Have Killed over 100 Rhinos in South Africa This Year

A rhino, front, recovers from a tranquilizer, after a hole was drilled into its horn and isotopes carefully inserted, at a rhino orphanage in the country's northern province of Limpopo, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A rhino, front, recovers from a tranquilizer, after a hole was drilled into its horn and isotopes carefully inserted, at a rhino orphanage in the country's northern province of Limpopo, June 25, 2024. (AP)
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Poachers Have Killed over 100 Rhinos in South Africa This Year

A rhino, front, recovers from a tranquilizer, after a hole was drilled into its horn and isotopes carefully inserted, at a rhino orphanage in the country's northern province of Limpopo, June 25, 2024. (AP)
A rhino, front, recovers from a tranquilizer, after a hole was drilled into its horn and isotopes carefully inserted, at a rhino orphanage in the country's northern province of Limpopo, June 25, 2024. (AP)

Poachers in South Africa killed more than 100 rhinos in the first three months of this year, most of them inside national parks, highlighting an ongoing battle to protect one of the best-known endangered species.

South African Environment Minister Dion George announced the figures Monday and said that of the 103 rhinos killed between Jan. 1 and March 31, 65 were poached in national parks.

The average of more than one rhino killed a day is in line with last year's count and “a stark reminder of the relentless threat to our wildlife,” George said.

South Africa has the largest rhino population in the world, with an estimated 16,000 to 18,000 animals, according to conservation groups. That includes black and white rhinos.

Black rhinos are only found in the wild in Africa and are listed as critically endangered with around 6,400 left, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Around 2,000 are in South Africa.

South African authorities have focused in recent years on criminal syndicates they believe are behind much of the country's rhino poaching.

The environment ministry hailed a conviction last year of what it called a poaching “kingpin” from Mozambique. Simon Ernesto Valoi was sentenced to 27 years in prison by a Mozambique court for running an operation poaching rhinos in South Africa's huge Kruger National Park, which borders Mozambique.