Already a holder of five Guinness World records for the largest mosaics, including the new coffee bean work, Strati’s Guinness journey started in Sept. 2006 when he created the largest metal nail mosaic.
TIRANA, Dec. 15 – Albania’s Saimir Strati has set his sixth personal Guinness World Record for the world’s largest mosaic, this time using around a million coffee beans, depicting five musicians. Strati finished creating the mosaic, measuring 25 m2 on Monday, Dec. 12 after four weeks of hard work in public.
Strati used 140 kg (309 pounds) of coffee beans, some roasted black, some averagely and some not roasted at all, to portray a Brazilian dancer, a Japanese drummer, a U.S. country music singer, a European accordionist and an African drummer.
“I wanted to give the message that sharing love over a cup of coffee brings us closer, a cup of coffee brings us more love than a G20 meeting,” Strati told Reuters.
“I can say all guidelines were met… And my final measure is 25.1 square meters,” said Guinness Judge Seyda Subasi Gemici.
Already a holder of five Guinness World records for the largest mosaics including the new coffee bean work, Strati’s Guinness journey started in Sept. 2006 when he created the largest metal nail mosaic. The 8m2 (86.11 sq. feet) mosaic featured a portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci. Two years later, he entered the Guinness World Record for the largest cork mosaic of 91.87 mҠ(988 ftҩ with the theme ‘Mediterranea.’
In Sept. 2009 he created the largest paint brush mosaic measuring 26 mҠdepicting pop star Michael Jackson.
His latest World Record was set in Nov. 2010 when he made the largest screw artwork containing 235,500 metal screws in an artwork depicting the poet Homer on a banknote. Strati’s largest toothpick mosaic set in 2007 was broken one year later by students of Tsugeno High School Japan, according to the official Guinness World Records website.
Born in Vlora, Saimir Strati, 45, is an Albanian artist who is regarded as one of the world’s most well known modern mosaic artists. Saimir Strati is primarily an artist who works in mosaics. He has used materials including nails, toothpicks, corks, sea glass, eggshells, compact discs, coffee beans, porcelain and mirror glass among other materials. He is also a painter. The diversity of the artist’s subjects, material and technique distinguish Saimir Strati as being traditional and contemporary with his approach on reviving the old technique and professionalism in antiquity and the mingling of daily/ industrial material.
