Khan Ayaan Abdulla is an artist for whom innovation is partner
- 20 Aug 2023
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Khan Ayaan Abdulla has been a familiar face in the Emirati art circles. Son of Shiba Khan, the energetic force behind art promoter Funun Arts, he has just completed his schooling from Delhi Private School, Sharjah, and is now enrolled as a first year student in the University of Manitoba, Canada, pursuing a Bsc in Engineering. A sketch artist and photographer, the love for art was planted in him by his mother. “The entire credit for my mad passion in arts goes to my mother,” he says. “I have also been inspired by my aunt, Farah Khan, who is the co-founder of Funun Arts.” Sketching allows him to open his mind and put his thoughts and ideas onto paper.
“My sketches talk where words cannot!” he says. “The way the world presently is and where I want it to be is all in my sketchbooks.” Photography for him is a way to capture the elusive moment before it passes on into eternity. In photography, he also seeks an ability to bring to the world those moments that are hidden. His photographs primarily show landscapes; Abdulla explores the portrait aspects of photography. Growing up, he always had a fascination about how imaginative he could get; he noticed and embraced “the beautiful intersection of arts and innovation which seemed to have the potential to create something magical.”
As an artist and photographer, he says he came to know the immense power of storytelling through visualisation: the ability to express whatever he could imagine and see through art was fascinating. His mates during his primary school years always knew him as the ‘artist of the class’ and still consider him such — even though it has been almost eight years since those days! He has been honoured by galleries and art centres by having his artworks and photographs exhibited in their spaces. He has also been part of various national and international platforms and shows.
He has held live art events, sometimes teaching children of determination and other times painting with people from many walks of life. What started it all was of course the realisation that it lay in his capability to give a form to his thoughts through art. He recalls that it was not till the seventh grade he began to dwell deeper into this ability and his interest as an artist, and also see how his creative journey could get ahead of canvases and lenses. But this story lies ahead. “If a single word were to describe who I am, it would be ‘Vibes’”, he says. “I believe that the energy and atmosphere you surround yourself with truly affects who you are - and in fact others around you too.” Abdulla was born in India, brought up in the UAE, throughout which he became passionate about arts, innovation, and social work.
“My first ever encounter with robotics and innovative problem solving was when I participated in the First Lego League in Grade 7,” he says. “That’s when I saw how innovation could transform problems into solutions.” He hasn’t looked back since; he participated in an innovation competition every year, till he achieved his first break along with his team in 9th Grade, when they won the National Innovation Award. “Ultimately, what inspired me to grow in the fields of art and innovation was the realisation that these areas are not confined to specific disciplines — they are dynamic and fluid, offering limitless opportunities for exploration, growth and impact,” he says.
He has had the privilege of achieving several significant milestones in the quest for innovation. As the founder of YOUTH Creative Minds Hub, he created a platform to allow youth unleash their creativity, talents, and foster a community of creative minds. He founded it two years ago with the thought that ‘Creativity is the only catalyst for expression and connecting communities’. The idea was to design a platform where youth could express themselves using any talent they had. His journey in innovation reached newer heights with the invention of the 3D Printed Cooling Brick during the 2019 First Lego League contest.
The project led to national and international recognition — Abdulla was the winner of the National Innovation Awards during the FLL Nationals, a Global Innovation Awards nominee and the recipient of the Sharjah Chambers Innovation Award. Being part of the school’s robotic team, his team, The Dream Builders, participated in the World Robotic Olympiad and won the coveted 1st place in the national competition. Abdulla and friends then moved on to represent the UAE in the Germany Internationals. Abdulla has also contributed to the scientific community by discovering an asteroid in the International Asteroid Search Campaign, earning the honour of having NASA naming it ‘KAA0003’, in recognition of his efforts.
He was also the sole Indian delegate at the Global Space Congress, where he had the privilege of meeting His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai. You can be sure it is only a matter of time before our artist uses the lessons he learnt in the field of innovation to improve his art practice. Abdulla lives in a world where Metaverse, NFTs and AI are radically transforming the way art is made, just as the ceramic kiln, stained glass, woodblock printing, the paint palette, canvas, the camera and the paint tube, did so once.
