The great thing about creativity is it can be expressed through any medium, even it happens to be rice crackers! This amazing feat was accomplished by a Japanese town, Soka in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, where around 200 residents recreated the iconic and world-renowned painting of Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa.
This 13-meter-long and nine-meter-wide installation used 24,000 rice crackers. These crackers had to be dyed in seven different colours by using flavours, such as soy sauce, matcha green tea, sugar and other ingredients of varying shades. The crackers were laid out at a gymnasium in Soka to form the painting.
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But why rice crackers? You guessed it. It was to promote a type of popular rice cracker, which is a local speciality called ‘Soka Senbei’. What better way to promote than to create a painting of Mona Lisa out of it. For dramatic effect, the town’s mayor completed this edible masterpiece by placing the final pieces.
To witness this mammoth project, the town had specifically invited the officials from the Guinness World Records. Needless to say, this edible artwork was certified by the Guinness officials as ‘the world’s largest mosaic made of the treat’. This declaration was received by the town’s participants and the public alike, amidst thunderous applause.
The locals who participated in creating this mosaic were both young and old. One seven-year-old Mei Hamano, who too participated in this project with her family, said in wonderment, “It’s amazing that you can draw a painting with senbei.”
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What’s even more surprising is putting together 24,000 pieces of rice crackers in exact shades to give it the likeness of the iconic Mona Lisa painting.
If you are wondering what happened to this edible masterpiece afterwards? Well, the rice crackers forming the painting were distributed among the participants and public for free. A befitting end to a challenging feat.
