A group of Syrian artists in Damascus has created the world’s biggest mural ever made. It is made of recycled materials, a rare work aimed at brightening public space in a city sapped by war and sanctions.
The brightly coloured, 720-sq metre work was constructed from aluminum cans, broken mirrors, bicycle wheels and other scrap objects and displayed on a street outside a primary school in the centre of the Syrian capital.
The mural’s lead artist, Syrian artist Moaffak Makhoul, said the idea behind the project was to give ordinary people a chance to experience art and relieve some of the pressures of daily life as the country’s three-year-old conflict grinds on.
“In the difficult conditions that the country is going through, we wanted to give a smile to the people, joy to the children, and show people that the Syrian people love life, love beauty, love creativity,” he said.
Guinness World Records has declared the work the world’s largest mural made of recycled materials.
Syria is sunk in a civil war that has killed over 140,000 people, forced millions more to flee their homes and devastated much of the country’s infrastructure, economic activity and urban life.