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About


Sabba Khan is an illustrator, architectural designer and story teller. Her work examines diasporic identities and how they are formed by the physical and non-physical structures around us. Her work is personal and emotive, and designed to illicit relational empathy, understanding and expansive ideas of a shared sense of humanity. Having lived in East London her entire life, she is fascinated by cities, density, landmarks, homes, and streets. She explores the relationship between inside / outside, private/ public, micro/ macro, individual and communal.

All of this is best encapsulated by her graphic novel, The Roles We Play, which was awarded the Jhalak Prize for best literature by a person of colour in 2022, Broken Frontier’s Break Out Talent ’22 and was nominated one of The Guardian’s best reads of 2021. Nominations include the Ignatz prize, Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize, British Book Design Awards and AOI’s World Illustrations Awards. The Roles We Play is available in the US under the title ‘What is Home, Mum?’.

Collaborators for Khan’s comics work include The British Council, SOAS, NHS, The Design Museum, London Borough of Newham, JCWI and The British Library.

Khan is co-director of Khan Bonshek, an architectural practice set up by her and her partner in Stratford, London, where both have just completed their self-build home.

She also teaches as an Associate Lecturer at Chelsea School of Art.

Khan’s art practice is supported with membership with A-N Artists, The Association of Illustrators and The Society of Authors.







Events


+ NorthEastern University Guest Lecturer at BA Architecture


+ Part of judging panel for First Graphic Novel Competition 2023


+ Muslim Women Literature Conference, Birmingham


+ Comics workshop as part of Race and Health Conference for UCL’s Institute for Global Health


+ Unpacking The Roles We Play with Severnside Psychotherapy Institute


+ London College of Communication Guest Lecturer at BA Illustration


+ Comics workshop and panel talk with Caleb Azuma Nelson for Brighton Festival 2023


+ Mindful drawing workshop for Rosetta Primary School, Year 2


+ Laundry workshop with Marianna at the Design Museum 


+ Show and Tell for Print and Matter Lab, Birmingham


+ Full day comics workshop for Cultural Theory, London School of Architecture Part 2 Year 1 students


+ Laundry workshop with Marianna at the Design Museum


+ Thought Bubble 2022


+ Islamophobia Awareness workhop for Newham Council 2022


+ Panel Talk for Newcastle University’s Literature department


+ Guest Lecturer at Leeds University