After Hilda Baci broke the Guinness World Record for longest cooking marathon in June 2023, many Nigerians shared their intention to break their own records. One such person was Lola Mewu, a visual artist.
Lola finally put her money where her mouth is and has embarked on an attempt to break the record for longest painting marathon. To beat the current record, she has to paint for over 60 hours, but she plans to hit 72.
Here’s all we know about the world record-breaking attempt so far.
When did it start?
On June 11, Lola shared that GWR had approved her application and given her the go-ahead to attempt to break the record.
She officially kicked off her paint-a-thon at around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 28, at Safe House, an upscale restaurant in Victoria Island, Lagos, and extended the duration by one day.
As part of the GWR requirements, Lola is expected to auction and sell some of the paintings.
The first painting titled “One Touch” depicts kids in uniform playing ball. Bidding started at ₦55,000.
Some other paintings she made during the paint-a-thon include:
“Pemi Pada Owonromi”
Starting bid: ₦65,000
“Ejire Ara Isokun”
Starting bid: ₦40,000
A brief timeline
On Sunday, October 29, at precisely 6:30 p.m., the artist hit 24 hours of her 72-hour goal after painting 11 artworks.
Lola hit 40 hours on Monday, October 30, and kept going with Beyonce’s “Cuff It” playing in the background.
She hit the 60-hour mark, the current world record, during the early hours of Tuesday, October 31.
At the time of filing this report, Lola has painted for over 68 hours.
Support from Nigerians
Since the paint-a-thon kicked off on October 28, friends and family have flooded social media with encouraging words for the visual artist.
Some videos showed the moment Lola listened to voice notes with words of encouragement from friends.
Some visited the artist at her painting station to cheer her on.
Art lovers and enthusiasts, fellow Nigerians and some celebrities have shown support for Lola.
GWR-holder, Kaffy, also video called to show support.
Who holds the current record?
Belgian-Canadian artist, Roland Palmaerts, holds the current record for longest painting marathon, which stands at 60 hours. Palmaerts achieved the record from 3 to 5 October 2013 in Arches, France. He created 60 paintings during the marathon, and all paintings were displayed in a gallery.
This is a developing story.
You’ll have your fill of grilled, peppered or fried meat and many more at Zikoko’s meat festival on November 11. Have you bought your Burning Ram ticket? You can do that real quick here.
