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S.Korean grain silo transforms into world’s largest mural
INCHEON, South Korea, Dec 19, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A dreary grain silo that
was transformed into an enormous colourful artwork in South Korea has been
named by Guinness World Records as the largest outdoor mural in the world.
The painting which depicts a young boy’s journey into adulthood covers the
outside of giant storage containers in the port city of Incheon, west of
Seoul, taking up 23,688 square meters.
The mural was commissioned by the city’s government and port authority as
part of efforts to improve the negative view of aged industrial facilities,
an idea which originated from the community art projects of the 1920s that
swept the United States and Mexico, according to the South’s Yonhap news
agency.
Twenty-two artists used more than 850,000 litres of paint to tell the
story which reflects the seasons and resembles 16 individual book covers, at
a cost of 550 million won (US$487,000).
It topples the previous record holder by a significant margin — the
Pueblo Levee Project in Pueblo, in the US state of Colorado, at 16,554 square
meters.
Government and port officials also hope the mural will give a boost to
tourism on Wolmi Island, one of the top tourist spots near Incheon.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1312 hrs