Nigerian doctor and artist creates world’s largest drawing to celebrate country’s culture

By Vicki Newman
Published 14 November 2024
Split image of Fola looking at the camera and working on his drawing

A Nigerian doctor turned his passion for art into a record-breaking feat by creating the world’s largest drawing by an individual.

Fola David-Tolaram’s gigantic piece of art, created on the pitch at Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos, is a love letter to his home country, depicting its diverse culture.

It measures a massive 1,004.7 m² (10814.5 ft²), which is the size of 3.8 tennis courts.

Fola, 31, explained: “The drawing is a map of Nigeria showing the various cultures.

“The Nigerian country is a multi-cultural nation. I wanted to create something that speaks to that and give people an avenue to celebrate their cultures.

“Before embarking on this record drawing, I took a trip around my country to experience these different cultures personally and it was this experience that I brought to the stadium to create this drawing.

Artist Fola talking to the camera

“The food, the clothing, the way of life, the festivals, the things that are used to create music in each of these cultures, are things that I brought together to create the largest drawing in the world by an individual.”

The drawing is entitled The Unity of Diversity.

This is me showing my people the beauty that resides in our culture.

The final artwork

The final artwork

The medical doctor, who has also been a professional artist for 10 years, created his drawing on a 1,360 m² canvas with waterproof markers.

It took two days just to join all the canvases together to make one big enough for Fola to draw on.

He began from the centre and planned to work his way out in a circular motion, but changed up his technique after he got started, sometimes taking a break from difficult areas to work on something he found easier, before going back to it later.

Fola at work on the drawing

Fola starting the artwork

Fola, who has had his art exhibited around the world, said he wanted to attempt this record to push the limits of his ability as an artist.

He said: “I remember standing right in the centre of this canvas, about to start this drawing, and feeling a lot of apprehension and fear because all these years had led to this moment.

“For five minutes I stood there making sure I conditioned myself for the beginning of such a challenge.

Fola working on the canvas

The drawing from above

“I believed in myself, but at the same time, standing right there I felt something pushing me back, I felt something telling me, ‘are you sure you’re ready?’

“I had to tell myself everything had been taken care of.”

But once he got going, he knew he could do it.

The drawing in progress

“All I had to do was start,” he confessed. “The moment my marker touched the canvas there was no going back. All the fear had gone away.

“After the first few strokes I remembered who I was and everything I’d learned and all the years of experience as an artist and it started flowing freely for me.

From that moment, I was fearless and I kept going until the final day.

The drawing on the field of the stadium

Fola had lots of visitors at the 5,000-seat stadium over the six days it took him to complete his drawing.

He often had a crowd of people there to cheer him on and said the atmosphere was “electrifying”.

He told us: “Holding a Guinness World Records title is absolutely unbelievable. I grew up reading about world records and I never thought that I would be a record title holder.

“I’m still trying to process the emotion of this entire thing, but I feel very honoured, I feel distinguished, and I feel Officially Amazing.”