Sanki King
| Sanki King | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Birth name | Abdullah Ahmed Khan |
| Born | June 7, 1990 |
| Field | Graffiti, parkour, b-boying |
Abdullah Ahmed Khan (born June 7, 1990), professionally known as Sanki or Sanki King, is a Pakistani graffiti artist,[1][2][3] member of an old school American graffiti crew, BMK - Beyond Mankind Krew,[1]traceur[4] and b-boy.[1] Some would go as far as saying that Sanki is the pioneer of graffiti culture in the country.[1][3] Sanki is also the first and the only super hip hopper in Pakistan.[1]
Graffiti
Sanki has been a student of hip hop from the age of 10. He started his journey in graffiti, parkour & B-boying in 2006.[1][3] Living in a country where hip hop culture is not present in its original form, Sanki found it difficult to promote graffiti as an art and trying to make people understand the difference between graffiti artists and vandals. Early on in his graffiti career, he focused more on promoting graffiti then painting on walls; to do this, he started promoting graffiti in and out of Pakistan through various sources on the Internet before starting to paint walls in September 2010. By 2010 he had made hundreds of graffiti sketches on paper and different mediums. Sanki is best known for his ballpoint pen illustrations and 3D graffiti.[4]
Murals
Sanki has been painting commercial murals since February 2011. He painted his first aerosol graffiti piece on an abandoned part of a bridge in Karachi for his 22nd birthday and on 8 July 2012, for the very first time he did live graffiti in public at the Karachi International Food and Culture Festival at the Beach View Club Park.[1][2]
Sticker art
Sanki launched his Sticker Art Movement in July 2012 through a sticker which features the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.[1]
Custom-painted apparel and shoes
King runs his own line of custom-painted apparel and sneakers. His clothing and sneakers line is the first and only one in Pakistan.[3] The artwork on the apparel/shoes include graffiti work, single/multi layer stencil work and different spray-paint techniques.[1][1]
B-boying and parkour
Sanki became interested in b-boying at the age of 13 and started practicing a year later. He began practicing parkour in June 2006 and is one of the early leaders of b-boying and parkour in Pakistan.[2][5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sanki King’s graffiti knows no boundaries by Saadia Qamar, The Express Tribune, July 30, 2012
- ^ a b c Street Smart by Zab Mustefa, Cover story: Express Tribune Magazine, July 22nd 2012
- ^ a b c d Art effect by Daniyal Darvesh, Yello, October 25th 2012
- ^ a b Pakistani embraces fame in Gulf for his ‘Parkour’ excellence by Sabir Shah, The News, June 04, 2012
- ^ Parkour in Pakistan by Zab Mustefa, Gulf News, June 2, 2012
