Pak students create world's largest painting

A group of about 1,000 students of colleges and universities from across Pakistan's Punjab province have created what is being described as the world's largest painting of 41,685 square feet.

The students finished the painting at the Punjab Hockey Stadium in Lahore in seven hours yesterday, said the organisers of the event to create the world's largest painting to mark Pakistan Day. A large number of people gathered at the stadium to watch the students.

The current record in the Guinness Book of World Records is held by a 33,000 square-foot painting. Salma Turab of Purple Art and Communications, which organised yesterday's event, told the media that the previous record was created in Nigeria in 2010. "Pakistan has broken it today," she contended.

Turab said the international procedure for setting such a record had been followed and an aerial view of the artwork and videos had been sent to the authorities of the Guinness World Records and they had declared it a new record.

"According to the rules of Guinness World Records, an architect specially appointed for the job measures the painting," she said.

The participants painted with great enthusiasm amidst a rainbow of colours in and around the venue. Some of the participants were seen wearing hair wigs and were draped in the colours of the Pakistani flag.

The event marked the culmination of the third Annual Street Art Competition which started on March 4.

The event was part of an initiative of the Message Welfare Trust with the theme "The Colours of Pakistan", and was aimed at showing the "softer side" of the country and bringing the youth together to send out a positive message of peace and solidarity to the world.

The event was supported by the Punjab government.

"To paint the largest painting of the world is a great experience. But everybody is feeling tired because the whole exercise took a great deal of effort," said Fiza Hamid, a student.

Hamid said the youth of Pakistan, through this painting, wanted to send a message of peace and love across the world.