Keep on trucking: Art on the move in Pakistan

This South Asian art proves that everything, even a humble truck, can be transformed into a piece of art.

They pollute the roads and chug along at a snail’s pace, but to their Pakistani owners the rickety trucks are moving pieces of art, commanding attention with garish portraits of flowers, Islamic art, and snow-capped Himalayan peaks.

Plastic bottles used to store water and a tyre stopper are wedged on the side of a decorated truck in Faisalabad, Pakistan, May 4, 2017. (Reuters)

South Asian “truck art” has become a global phenomenon, inspiring gallery exhibitions abroad and prompting stores in posh London neighbourhoods to sell flamboyant miniature pieces.

Yet closer to home some people sneer and refuse to call it “art”.

A driver holds open the door of the carved wood cab of his decorated truck in Faisalabad, Pakistan, May 4, 2017. (Reuters)

For the drivers, the designs that turn decades-old vehicles into moving murals are often about local pride. Picking the right colour or animal portrait is tougher than the countless hours spent on the road.

A worker washes a decorated truck in Peshawar, Pakistan, May 2, 2017. (Reuters)

Truck driver Haji Ali Bahadur, who hails from the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, said green and yellow have been his colours of choice during 40 years behind the wheel. “We, the drivers of Khyber, Mohmand and other tribal regions, like flowers on the edge of the vehicles,” he said. “The people of Swat, South Waziristan and Kashmir region like portraits of mountains and different wild animals.”

An electric gauge is seen in the cab of a decorated truck in Faisalabad, Pakistan, May 4, 2017. (Reuters)

Truck art has become one of Pakistan’s best known cultural exports, and offshoot toy and furniture industries have been spawned closer to home. With Pakistan’s economy picking up speed and new roads opening up trade routes to China, truck art may soon find new admirers abroad.

Artwork is seen on a decorated truck outside Faisalabad, Pakistan, May 3, 2017. (Reuters)

 

Source: TRTWorld

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