The streets of Pakistan are swarming with canvases on wheels as truck drivers compete to design the most beautiful truck and buses. In the eyes of the drivers an un embellished vehicle is a terrible sight. The most popular designs involve reflector glass panels which make the truck glow when caught in another vehicle’s headlights. “It’s our passion that we have to make the truck very beautiful,” explains one driver. Unfortunately the drivers have little time or money left over to spend on what’s under the bonnet.

In Pakistan a truck driver/owner usually pays $3,000 to $5,000 for their vehicle’s external decoration. This decoration includes structural changes, paintings, calligraphy, ornamental decor and more. Mirror work on the front and back of vehicles and wooden carvings on the truck doors are commonly used. Usually, the driver/owner takes the truck to a coach workshop soon after its purchase for this decoration. The artist embellishes each truck according to the particular tastes of the driver.

Pakistani Truck at Smithsonian Museum at Washington DC:

Pakistani Truck at Smithsonian Museum at Washington DC

Quoting Richard Covington who wrote ‘Masterpieces To Go: The Trucks of Pakistan’

Americans got a tiny taste of Pakistani truck painting in the summer of 2002 at the Smithsonian Folk life Festival, when Ali and bodywork expert Jamil ud-Din brought a truck from Karachi to Washington, D.C. They decorated it right there on the National Mall, as outdoor artists in residence. As a talent scout for the festival’s Silk Road theme, truck aficionado Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, an anthropology professor at the University of Michigan and a top us scholar of Pakistani culture, chose the pair for their versatility in incorporating the country’s in congruent styles of truck art. Their finished masterpiece, a 1976 Bed ford, is now part of the Smithsonian’s permanent collection.

Karachi is considered the major bedecking center for such trucks. There is also a unique decor style for nearly every city in Pakistan. The Balochistani and Peshawari trucks are heavily trimmed with wood. Rawalpindi and Islamabadi trucks have prominently featured plastic work. Camel bone ornamentation is commonly seen in trucks decorated by Sindh artists. Thus these trucks are also representative of different historical and cultural regions of Pakistan.

Image Source:

• Pakistani Truck Art
• ATP