World's Longest Underwater Painting in Tioman
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World's Longest Underwater Painting in Tioman
Pahang, 28 April 2008 - The last weekend saw a group of passionate sea-loving artists, marine science students and enthusiasts getting together in Tioman Island in conjunction with World Earth Day and International Year of the Reef celebrations, to perform a feat which created an entry in the Malaysia Book of Records for the World's Longest Underwater Painting. Organised by CoRAL Malaysia (Malaysian Coral Reef Conservation Society), a society whose mission is to increase public awareness on marine conservation issues, brought about 50 people from the National Art Gallery, Association of Artists of Various Resources' (APAD) from Singapore, Marine Park, universities, divers and members of the media to congregate at Nazri's Place, a resort located at Kampung Air Batang of Tioman from the 25 to 28 April 2008 in an attempt to paint the world's longest painting, underwater. The dives began the following day after a checkout dive the day before. Sketches were made in plus sizes by 24 artists, 11 from Malaysia and 13 from Singapore, using oil pastels in little mesh bags carried with them. Some astonishing sketches of barracudas and octopuses with schooling fish and branching corals lined the canvas, a specially sized canvas to withstand the elements of salt water. All materials used in this painting are non-toxic. It took 24 artists and three dives of about 45 minutes each dive to finish the canvas. A total of 56.4 metres were painted out of the 60 metre long canvas, creating an opportunity for an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records . The painting will be brought back to Singapore for the submission and will be displayed in the gallery for a period of time before it comes back to Malaysia for exhibition. In 2004 Ajis Mohamed, Malaysia's first underwater painter, led other national painters from the National Art Gallery of Malaysia to complete a 36.1 metre canvas on the seabed at a depth of 15.3 metres. This time around, he led the two nations to sketch and colourise a myriad of conception through the eyes of each creative individual. In the vision of creating awareness through record-breaking feats, the message of preserving our coral reef resonates in the vivid illustration of the beautiful heritage of Tioman. Much more than the spirit of Malaysians 'can do,' the feat was more about what Malaysians (with the combined effort of Singapore counterparts) 'will do.' It wasn't another record to be the biggest, the nameliest, nor the best but it was to draw attention of the public to our corals in peril. A feat that got two countries together to create a masterpiece at such a length from the depth of their imagination was a feat worth of Guinness' mention. Sponsors and supporters made the event possible and they include the National Art Gallery of Malaysia, APAD Singapore (Association of Artists of Various Resources), University Malaysia Terengganu, UMNO, UMNO Youth, Metrobus, Marine Park of Malaysia, East Divers Tioman and Nazri's Place.
YouTube | May 7, 2008
