PENANG-based artist Mohd Azmi Mohd Hussin made history when his most recent masterpiece was awarded the “longest coffee painting” accolade by the Malaysia Book of Records.
What makes the 101-metre long painting truly remarkable is the fact that the entire artwork was painted with coffee made from 100% high-quality arabica whole beans from Starbucks, which depicts the Penang skyline and a glimpse of Pitt Street all the way to Seberang Perai.
Paying tribute to the artist’s hometown, the painting also includes three notable Starbucks locations within Penang, which are Starbucks Green Hall, Starbucks Sri Pinang Drive-thru, and Starbucks Juru R&R Drive-thru.
The certification ceremony was officiated by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who said it was an inspiration to see a local artist portray Penang’s beauty in such a unique way using Starbucks Coffee.
“Just like Starbucks and its bold and rich coffee legacy, the heritage of Penang will live on for years through this painting. This truly showcases Penangites as people who are in possession of admirable creative distinctions and it is my hope that this painting will inspire our local community for generations to come.”
CEO of Berjaya Food Bhd and managing director of Starbucks Malaysia & Brunei Sydney Quays said Starbucks believes in investing in people and communities.
“We’re thrilled to be supporting talented individuals like Azmi to showcase their hometowns through the unique use of coffee, and we hope to continue working with like-minded individuals and organisations to further strengthen the creative arts industry here,” he said.
In order to achieve different tones of brown, the whole bean coffees were grounded according to the correct grind setting, and then extracted by steeping in hot water for different amounts of time. Overall, the process used more than 20 cups of Starbucks Coffee of varying degrees of shades and colours, which were then carefully layered in varying tones to perfectly capture the silhouettes and nuances of Penang’s streets.
“After exploring different types of coffee for painting, I found that only pure ground coffee achieves the desired long-lasting result. Throughout the process, Starbucks has been very supportive in providing me the necessary tools to ensure that I can perform to the best of my abilities,” said Mohd Azmi.
He explained that the inspiration for the coffee painting came from foreign artists who use coffee as a medium.
“In Malaysia, no one has attempted this before and I wanted to be the first to do this,” said Azmi, who added that the process of seeing the painting come to fruition was a long and arduous one, involving a lot of trial and error, but one which was eventually fulfilling.
