The Art of Saks Afridi

In this episode, multidisciplinary artist, Saks Afridi discusses his collaborative projects with artisans and technologists across the globe to create sociopolitical and thought provoking works of art. These collaborations range from the creation of intricately designed traditionally woven rugs featuring UFOs to explorations with archaeological leanings, and something Saks calls "Sci-fi Sufism".

-About Saks Afridi-

Saks Afridi is a multi-disciplinary artist living in New York City. Saks’s art practice is two-fold: Collaborative and Personal. His personal work investigates the predicaments and perplexities of the life of an ‘Insider Outsider’. This is the practice of achieving a sense of belonging while being out of place, finding happiness in a state of temporary permanence, and re-contextualizing existing historical and cultural narratives with the contemporary.

His latest project ‘SpaceMosque’, exists in a new genre he terms as ‘Sci-fi Sufism’. Here he explores the idea of ‘Spiritual Machines’ that fuse mysticism and technology, bringing humanity closer to understanding itself. He draws inspiration from Afrofuturism, South Asian folklore, Sufi Poetry, Islamic mythology, architecture and calligraphy. 

Saks likes to let the concept lead the medium he works in, often working with architects, artisans, modelers and fabricators to bring the work to life. He comes to art with a background in advertising, as a Creative Director on brands such as Mercedes-Benz, MTV and White Castle. He studied advertising at the Academy of Art and later sculpture at the Art Students League of New York. He speaks English, Urdu, Pashto and conversational Arabic.

He is the proud recipient of 2 Gold Cannes Lion Awards, 3 D&AD Pencils, 2 OneShow pencils and a United Nations Award for Peace & Understanding. His work has also been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, CNN and The Colbert Report.

Learn more about Saks at http://www.saksafridi.com/

Follow Saks @saks__