Giant
Cask
285,000 wine corks. One extraordinary story.
An artwork born of wine, inspired by Aquitaine and made together.
A little cork.
A great work of art.
Wine corks, oak, metalThe Giant Cask is a unique piece created by Elvira Gazizova and Sergey Sidorov, founders of the company SemFor and wine club iWinemaker.
Explore the making
Three canvases.
One Aquitaine.
Vineyards, the Atlantic and two rivers. The landscapes and mythology of Aquitaine, illustrated by Natalia Golovanova.
Bacchus and his heritage
9 × ~5.7 mNeptune in his Atlantic kingdom
9 × ~5.4 mVenus between two rivers
9 × ~6 mThe sides of a “Giant Cask” were decorated with mosaic. New and old wine corks were used for its creation; these were sorted by color (maroon, black, dark red, light red, dark purple and light purple) and size. The illustrations for the Barrel were created by the Russian artist Natalia Golovanova. The mosaic consisted of three canvases, all united under one theme – Aquitaine:
A place in the history
of world records.
The mosaic entered Guinness World Records in 2014. In January 2015, it was voted the public’s favourite record of 2014.
The story of the recordA historical record from 2014, since surpassed.A work of art.
A story of people.
To complete this gigantic, ambitious and unique project, much patience, tenacity and determination was required. A big thank you to Nadalié cooperage and to adhesive manufacturer AEC Polymers, as well as to our team of volunteers, without whom this great artistic and human adventure would never have been achieved.
Meet the people and partnersThe Giant Cask film
Watch the filmThe story continues.
In the digital world.
Since May 2022, the Giant Cask has continued its story in the digital world. You can still explore it today.
Visit the virtual caskThe complete project story
The Giant Cask is a unique piece created by Elvira Gazizova and Sergey Sidorov, founders of the company SemFor and wine club iWinemaker.
An adventure, a challenge :
- A mosaic of 154.80m2 ;
- Created from 285,000 wine corks ;
- For a Cask of 9m in height and 17.20m in circumference.
All these characteristics permitted the Cask to beat the previous record, established in 2008 by Albanian artist Saimir Strati, with his fresco of corks measuring 91.87 m².
The Giant Cask was on display for the first time on the Quays of Bordeaux during Bordeaux Wine Festival, from the 26th to the 29th of June 2014. More than 500,000 people had the pleasure of discovering this original work of art. After the festival the Giant Cask left the town of Bordeaux for the workshop of Nadalié cooperage in Ludon-Médoc to stay there until April 2022. In May 2022 the artistic work Giant Cask leaves the physical world to join the digital world.
The sides of a “Giant Cask” were decorated with mosaic. New and old wine corks were used for its creation; these were sorted by color (maroon, black, dark red, light red, dark purple and light purple) and size. The illustrations for the Barrel were created by the Russian artist Natalia Golovanova. The mosaic consisted of three canvases, all united under one theme – Aquitaine:
- Bacchus and his heritage (9m high and ~5.7m wide) ;
- Neptune in his Atlantic kingdom (9m high and ~5.4m wide) ;
- Venus between two rivers (9m high and ~6m wide).
To complete this gigantic, ambitious and unique project, much patience, tenacity and determination was required. A big thank you to Nadalié cooperage and to adhesive manufacturer AEC Polymers, as well as to our team of volunteers, without whom this great artistic and human adventure would never have been achieved.
Watch the filmGiant Cask © Video : Laurent Meunier, music: Jacques Tellitocci, "Rapanuï" и "Cheval vapeur"