Saimir Strati

Saimir Strati (Vlora, Albania, April 11, 1966) is an Albanian artist who is regarded as one of the world's most well known modern mosaic artists.

He has done restorations in Albania to several notable mosaics at the archeological sites of Byllis, Amantia and Appolonia and continues to discover secrets from the ancient technique. He is a member of the British Association of Modern Mosaic.

Artworks

Saimir Strati is primarily an artist who works in mosaics. He has used materials including nails, toothpicks, corks, sea glass, eggshells, compact discs, coffee beans, porcelain and mirror glass among other materials. He is also a painter. The diversity of the artist's subjects, material and technique distinguish Saimir Strati as being traditional and contemporary with his approach on reviving the old technique and professionalism in antiquity and the mingling of daily/ industrial material.

Strati is heavily inspired by music, and in the mosaic series 'The Four Seasons' based on the Vivaldi concerto, each season is represented by a different musical instrument. Another work on oil depicts traditional Albanian Polyphonic singers. 'The King' is a portrait of Elvis Presley measuring nearly 2 metres in height and uses over 400 CD's.

His work 'Sea Girl' is based on a legend from Vlora, his hometown. The story is about a young woman separated from her lover. She prays to become a fish to cross the sea to reunite with him. The artwork itself is made from sea glass which took the artist several years to collect.

"Peace" is a quintessential work of the artist, where the mirror mosaic reflects the message of our relation to peace.

Mosaic works require patience, flexibility and set of important techniques and through these and more passion, the artist says:

'Nothing is impossible'.

Guinness World Record

2006 - Leonardo Da Vinci

In 2006, Saimir Strati began what has seemingly become an annual tradition of setting a Guinness World Record. Using industrial nails, the artist re-created the self portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci using nearly 400 kilos of nails over a 2x4m surface. The technique resembles digital photography, in that each nail represents a pixel. The record was confirmed in Tirana by Guinness World Records on September 4, 2006, as the World's Largest Nail Mosaic.

2007 - Reinless Spirit

The following summer another record attempt took place. On July 26, 2007, the artist began affixing toothpicks, a total of 1.5 million over a 4x2m surface, to create the image of a horse. The work was dedicated to Antonio Gaudi, and was confirmed on September 4, 2007 as the World's Largest Toothpick Mosaic [The largest toothpick mosaic was 8m2 (86.11 sq. feet) by Saimir Strati (Albania) and displayed at the Arbnori International Centre of Culture, Tirana, Albania on 4 September 2007. The artist used 1.5 million toothpicks and worked 40 days to achieve this record. [Guinness World Record Largest Toothpick Mosaic (September 4, 2007).http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/arts_and_media/art_and_sculpture/largest_toothpick_mosaic.aspx] .

2008 - Mediterraneana

On August 8, 2008 the artist began his most recent quest which saw him create the World's largest cork mosaic. The work has a Mediterranean theme, and consists of 229,764 corks over a surface of 12.94m x7.10m, or 91.87m². The event took place over the course of 27 days at Sheraton Tirana Hotel and Towers and was accompanied by an exhibition of both previous World Records as well as seven other artworks, including 'The Four Seasons', 'Peace' and 'The King'. While in Tirana for a friendly match on August 20, players from the Liechtenstein national football team visited the exhibition. On August 26, Iceland Prime Minister Geir Haarde visited the exhibition with Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha [cite web

url=http://http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16539&ew_0_a_id=311113
title=Iceland's Prime Minister Visits Greece and Albania
accessdate=2008-08-30] . On September 1, for the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Albanian Royal Family, Prince Leka visited the exhibition. Albanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lulzim Basha visited the exhibition on several occasions.

The mosaic was completed on September 4, 2008 and confirmed as the World's largest by Guinness Adjudicator Carlos Martinez.

Following the completion of the mosaic, players from the Swedish National Football Team visited the exhibition on September 6, and players from the Malta National Football Team visited it on September 10, while in Tirana for FIFA World Cup qualification matches.

Live Performances

Every world record attempt Saimir Strati has attempted has been a live performance. He has also done large scale artistic performances in Dubai.

The World's Largest Nail Mosaic and the World's Largest Toothpick Mosaic were created in the International Cultural Centre of Tirana. The World's Largest Cork Mosaic was created at Sheraton Tirana.

Exhibitions

1996 - Fier, Albania

2004 - Miss Globe International, Durres, Albania

2005 - Fier, Albania

2006 - International Centre of Culture, Tirana, Albania

2006 - United States Embassy, Tirana, Albania

2007 - International Centre of Culture, Tirana, Albania

2008 - Sheraton Tirana Hotel and Towers, Tirana, Albania

External links

* [http://www.mosaicart-sast.com/ Saimir Strati Official Website]
* [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2007/11/071128.aspx/ Find a Guinness World Record]
* [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/arts_and_media/art_and_sculpture/largest_toothpick_mosaic.aspx/ Guinness World Record Largest Toothpick Mosaic]
* [http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/ World Records Academy]