The world’s largest canvas painting, vying to make it into the Guinness Book of Records, notably depicts the portraits of the late Diego Maradonna of Argentina, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo, among a host of other luminaries.
The “Ball Narrative” paintings on canvas by Iranian artist Emad Al Salehi also include portraits of numerous other international figures from all walks of life. The portraits of FIFA President Giovanni Infantino, footballer players Neymar and Karim Benzema, former footballers Ali Daei of Iran and Zinedine Zidane of France, and Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan are prominently displayed on the canvas, which is the size of a football field. They will be formally unveiled on April 16, 2023.
The meticulous five-month artistic painting by Emad, which will cover a surface area of 9600 square meters, attempts to visually depict the history of the World Cup from its start in 1930 through the World Cup Qatar 2022.
In the past 30 years, Emad has received numerous awards worldwide, ten of which were spent in the United Arab Emirates. “Sometimes I used to work for five hours, and on some days for 14 hours,” he said. More than 3000 liters of paint and more than 150 brushes were required to complete the artwork, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture in Qatar.
The largest art canvas is displayed by Sacha Jafri of the United Kingdom, who completed it on September 29, 2020, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The theme of Jafri’s canvas work, which covered a surface area of 1,595.76 square meters, was “Journey of Humanity.”
Emad’s work is one of several artistic endeavors that the Ministry has supported to draw attention to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Mariam Al Hammadi, the Director of the Department of Culture and Arts at the Ms. Mariam Al Hammadi Cultural Center, states, “Through this artistic painting, the area of which is estimated to be a football field, the artist was able to mix sports and culture, and deal with the Qatari culture and tourist attractions in the country through an artistic painting that deserves praise for the efforts made and the exploitation of art in shedding light on the most notable and important sporting event taking place in Qatar.”
Emad’s work is one of several artistic endeavors that the Ministry has supported to draw attention to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
