Sanki King
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Sanki King at University of Karachi in 2012.
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| Born | Abdullah Ahmed Khan 1990 (age 33–34) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Nationality | Pakistan |
| Known for | Graffiti, Public art, Stenciling, Parkour, Bboying |
| Website | www |
Abdullah Ahmed Khan (Urdu: عبداللہ احمد خان, born 1990)[1] professionally known as Sanki (Urdu: سنکی pronunciation: 
i/sʌnkiː/) or Sanki King is a Pakistani graffiti artist, street artist and a performing artist. Sanki is the pioneer of graffiti, calligraffiti, sneaker art, sticker art and b-boying in Pakistan and also one of the pioneers of parkour in Pakistan. [1][2][3][4][5]
Contents
Early life
Sanki was born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and raised in Karachi, Pakistan. His father was an interpreter at the Islamic Development Bank.[4] His mother died when he was only nine years old.[2] He was introduced to hip hop one year later and was influenced by films such as You Got Served. He learned the ropes through videos on the Internet. He also learned BMX, boxing and floor gymnastics.[4][6]
Career
King has been proficient in hip hop since the age of ten: rap, beatboxing, parkour, b-boying, DJing. He frequented gaming zones as a teenager and when a friend calling him ‘Sanki’ it stuck in his mind and became his identity. The term "Sanki" is thought to mean mad to crazy, but the artist claims it also means 'deep thinker'.[6] He started his journey in graffiti, parkour and b-boying between 2005-2006. In 2008, Sanki started his career as a professional performing artist after being noticed and photographed by Tapu Javeri while freerunning in a park in Karachi and later performed at the launch of Style 360. From 2011, he began selling artwork and painting commissioned murals as a professional artist and in March 2012 started his own personal studio where he currently works.[6]
Graffiti
Known for his wide range of skills from simple bubble letters to figurative graffiti, calligraffiti, stencil work and 3D letters. Some of his works include Love Karachi on a bus and another one titled Flying Kiss adorned on the walls outside Arts Council, Karachi. He is a member of graffiti crew Beyond Mankind Krew (BMK), founded in 1991, in Queens, New York City.[4][5][7]
Sanki did "live graffiti art" for the first time in Pakistan in July 2012 and in the same month launched his Sticker Art Movement through a sticker which features the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.[1] In December 2012, he was chosen as the judge for a nationwide graffiti competition spread across seven cities.[8][9][10]
Sanki's work is featured in Nicholas Ganz’s book, Street Messages, published in April 2015.[6][7][11]
He is widely known as the "Banksy of Pakistan" to which he says "“But I don’t want to be a second Banksy, I want to be the first Sanki!”.[2]
Custom-painting and Fashion
Sanki King is known for his graffiti art on sneakers, using paint, marker pens and stencils. He originally came across the idea in the movies, taught himself the skills.[1] He now runs his own company making custom-painted sneakers and apparel, as well as organising dance and graffiti workshops.[7]
In 2014, Sanki did his 1st fashion collaboration with a local designer brand "Zeb-Tan". In 2015 Sanki collaborated with a well-known designer label, House of Arsalan Iqbal, for a collection of clothing designs called "Desirably Distressed".[12] Another collection called "Devolution Chic" was showcased a month later at the 8th PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2015.[13][14]
B-boying and Parkour
King is one of the early leaders of b-boying and parkour in Pakistan and began teaching b-boying to a group of young kids between 2008-09 and later turned it into a b-boying crew, Unknown Crew (UC), founded in 2010 in Karachi.[2][5][7]
Personal life
Sanki King lives and works in Karachi.[7]
See also
References
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Sanki King’s graffiti knows no boundaries, The Express Tribune, July 30, 2012. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Don't call me Banksy, Dawn, December 22, 2013
- ↑ Street Smart, Cover story: Express Tribune Magazine, July 22, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 'SANKI' COLORS IT ALL: THE FIRST GRAFFITI ARTIST OF PAKISTAN, Youlin Magazine, January 22, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Graffiti artist brings hip hop to the streets, Campus Diaries, May 25, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Sanki King: The Graffiti Artist Mastermind, ArtNow Magazine, Issue: May, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Multi-talented Pakistani Street Artist 'Sanki King' excels nationally and achieves international recognition as well!, House of Pakistan, June 30, 2015
- ↑ Tetra Pak Graffiti Competition, The Nation, December 23, 2012
- ↑ Tetra Pak Graffiti Artists, Daily Messenger, December 4, 2012
- ↑ Graffiti Art Competition, Pakistan Observer, December 21, 2012
- ↑ From shadowy times to vivid walls, Express Tribune, April 17, 2015
- ↑ Desirably Distressed, Paperazzi Magazine, Issue 81, March 22, 2015, page 54. Retrieved 2016-01-30.
- ↑ PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week April 2015: Day-4 Journal, Press Release, April 22, 2015
- ↑ House of Arslan Iqbal At PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2015, April 21, 2015
External links
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