The Journey of Humanity

While most of us spent quarantine sequestered in our houses with our families, the British artist Sacha Jafri spent several months working on breaking an impressive Guinness World Record for creating the largest art canvas. Just as impressive as that task is the price the painting fetched at auction… and further, that Jafri donated half of the sale price to children impacted by the pandemic.

The painting eventually sold at auction for $62 million… the second most expensive painting by a living artist sold at auction. Jafri said (courtesy TRT World), “The aim was always to change the lives of children around the world and try and reconnect humanity. The purity of intention that only children have, did something really powerful.”

In March 2020, as the pandemic’s grips tightened around the world, Jafri moved to Atlantis The Palm in Dubai to begin his ambitious project. In March 2021, the painting was unveiled to the public. Equivalent to the size of two soccer courts, the painting was evaluated by the Guinness Book of World Records to certify that it was indeed the world’s largest canvas painting.

The artist’s original plan was to cut the enormous painting into sixty smaller paintings to be sold at a charity auction the following month. However, the entire canvas was bought altogether by Andre Abdoune, a Frenchman who lives in Dubai and owns a cryptocurrency business. Interestingly, Abdoune says that he has a “second step” in mind for the painting; he hopes this will bring more awareness and raise more money for charity. However for now, those details have not been shared!

The project was conceived after a conversation with UNICEF where Jafri learned that 385 million children worldwide live in extreme poverty. Those children are twice as likely as others to die in childhood, and these numbers have more than doubled recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jafri saw this as an opportunity for change.

The artist said, (courtesy of an interview with Jessica Stewart for My Modern Met), “My painting “The Journey of Humanity” will support the delivery of improved education, healthcare, and connectivity, as well as create vital funds in support of the poorest and most desperately in need areas and regions of our planet. I hope that my ground-breaking creation will help to further advocate global logistical support for health and sanitation within the worst-hit refugee camps, slums, townships, shanties, favelas, and poverty-stricken communities of the world.”

Jafri says that he did not plan anything ahead of time and that there was an organic process to executing such a monumental canvas. After six months of painting for 16-17 hours a day, the magic appeared. Using brushes that are smaller than two inches wide allows Jafri to execute his signature technique. The end product is a canvas that has 200-300 layers of paint where strong imagery appears to come out of nowhere.

He told BBC, “I was in a deep meditative state. I looked through all the [children’s] work – I paint from the subconscious, and then whatever’s in there comes out. Nothing’s planned. There’s no sketches. There were no drawings. I was literally pouring paint, and then putting another layer on top and another layer, another layer, another layer, just feeling my way through it until something magical happened.”

The work was back-breaking… literally. Throughout the process, Jafri ruptured two discs; however he continued to work. He says that each day, he would wake up, drink his coffee, hug his daughter, put on his “painter clothes,” and leave for his “office.” Sometimes the long days would blend into early mornings. But Jafri was okay with that because he had a much bigger purpose in mind. The artist stayed focused and forged ahead thanks to the mission of raising $30 million to help the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children. We are so glad that he followed through!