Argentine mural builds ties across border, breaks world record

Reuters - A mural on a wall near Argentina's border with Paraguay, which was created by 55 artists from across Latin America, was recognized on Saturday (October 19) by Guinness World Records as the largest pencil-drawn surface in the world. In 2014 the Yavireta Binational Entity (EBY) build a concrete wall some 4,000 meters (2.5 miles) long and five high (16 feet) in Posadas, Argentina, which "caused a big stir, much displeasure because it was separating us," said the organization's executive director, Martin Goerling. EBY authorities hoped to smooth over the discontent by creating a mural that would represent the cultures of Argentina and Paraguay according to Goerling. The mural is made up of two parts, one is painted and tells the history of the border region from the ancient past to the present. The other is related to the same theme, but is pencil-drawn. The pencil-drawn portion won the world record Saturday, taking the top spot from a mural spanning some 85 square meters (915 square feet) in Colombia. Artists from Argentina, Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia followed sketches and used some 1,200 liters (317 gallons) of paint and 800 pencils to create the murals in around 12 days of work.