Nigerian visual artist receives confirmation of his 'world largest drawing by an individual' record
Fola David, a Nigerian doctor turned his passion for art into a record-breaking feat by creating the world’s largest drawing by an individual, measuring a massive 1,004.7 m² (10814.5 ft²)
Last week, Guinness World Records (GWR), the global authority on all things record-breaking, confirmed Fola David, a Nigerian visual artist, as the latest holder of the world’s largest drawing by an individual record.
According to the announcement, Fola David, a Nigerian doctor turned his passion for art into a record-breaking feat by creating the world’s largest drawing by an individual.
Fola, who in July (2024) embarked on his record-breaking attempt, completed the record-breaking 1,050 square metre painting—surpassing the existing record of 629.98 square meters by Ravi Soni from India—to clinch the world record for the largest drawing by an individual.
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“Fola David-Tolaram’s gigantic piece of art, created on the pitch at Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos, is a love letter to his home country, depicting its diverse culture,” the announcement stated. “It measures a massive 1,004.7 m² (10814.5 ft²), which is the size of 3.8 tennis courts.”
Speaking about the drawing, Fola shared, “The drawing is a map of Nigeria showing the various cultures. The Nigerian country is a multi-cultural nation. I wanted to create something that speaks to that and give people an avenue to celebrate their cultures.”
The artwork, titled “Unity in Diversity,” shows a map of Nigeria highlighting the country’s diverse tribes through their unique attire, languages, art, and essence. “Before embarking on this record drawing, I took a trip around my country to experience these different cultures personally and it was this experience that I brought to the stadium to create this drawing,” he explained.
“The food, the clothing, the way of life, the festivals, the things that are used to create music in each of these cultures, are things that I brought together to create the largest drawing in the world by an individual.”
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To complete his record-breaking artwork, Fola painted for six days, with many Nigerians and celebrities coming around to support and cheer him up at the 5,000-seat stadium in Lagos while others showed their support online.
“Holding a Guinness World Records title is absolutely unbelievable. I grew up reading about world records and I never thought that I would be a record title holder,” he told GWR. “I’m still trying to process the emotion of this entire thing, but I feel very honoured, I feel distinguished, and I feel Officially Amazing.”
With this annnouncement, Fola joins the list of Africans holding a world record. In May, GWR announced Ghanian youngster, Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah - at the age of 1 year 152 days - is the world’s youngest male artist.
In January, GWR also confirmed that Chancellor Ahaghotu, a Nigerian art student has broken the decade-old record for the longest painting marathon, after painting for 100 hours.
