Truck Culture of Pakistan
1. Truck Culture of Pakistan:
Art in any form is joy to the eyes. In Pakistan there is this great art (known as Truck Art) which has captured the imagination of tourists and art lovers from all over the globe. Its not cheap, it’s not easy but a truck owner without a truck art is not acceptable in the Truck Drivers fraternity.
1.1 History of Vehicle Painting in Pakistan
The extraordinary tradition of decorating trucks has its roots in the days of the British Raj when craftsmen made glorious horse drawn carriages for the gentry. The 1920s the Kohistan Bus Company asked the master craftsman Ustad Elahi Bakhsh to decorate their buses to attract passengers. Bukhsh employed a company of artists from the Punjab town of Chiniot, whose ancestors had worked on many great palaces and temples dating back to the Mughal Empire.
It was not long before the truck owners followed suit with their own design. Through the years the materials used have developed from wood and paint to metal, tinsel, plastic and reflective tape. Within the last few years trucks and buses have been further embellished with full lighting systems.
[pic]
1. Front view of a Truck
1.2 Truck Decoration
Truck decoration in Pakistan is a pervasive practice in which virtually all trucks are ornamented with some combination of epigraphic formulae, poetry, repetitive patterns and figural images. Both the images and epigraphic formulae may or may not be religious in nature. The decoration of a truck can signify a great deal about the religious identities of the individuals associated with the culture of truck decoration and, more specifically, how changes in the content and nature of the decoration mirror changes in the role of religion in Pakistani society.
Loudly decorated trucks and buses are commonly found in Japan and Pakistan. In Japan decorative trucks are called “Dekotora” or “Decotora” which is an abbreviation for “decorative trucks”. Decorative trucks and buses commonly have neon or
Art in any form is joy to the eyes. In Pakistan there is this great art (known as Truck Art) which has captured the imagination of tourists and art lovers from all over the globe. Its not cheap, it’s not easy but a truck owner without a truck art is not acceptable in the Truck Drivers fraternity.
1.1 History of Vehicle Painting in Pakistan
The extraordinary tradition of decorating trucks has its roots in the days of the British Raj when craftsmen made glorious horse drawn carriages for the gentry. The 1920s the Kohistan Bus Company asked the master craftsman Ustad Elahi Bakhsh to decorate their buses to attract passengers. Bukhsh employed a company of artists from the Punjab town of Chiniot, whose ancestors had worked on many great palaces and temples dating back to the Mughal Empire.
It was not long before the truck owners followed suit with their own design. Through the years the materials used have developed from wood and paint to metal, tinsel, plastic and reflective tape. Within the last few years trucks and buses have been further embellished with full lighting systems.
[pic]
1. Front view of a Truck
1.2 Truck Decoration
Truck decoration in Pakistan is a pervasive practice in which virtually all trucks are ornamented with some combination of epigraphic formulae, poetry, repetitive patterns and figural images. Both the images and epigraphic formulae may or may not be religious in nature. The decoration of a truck can signify a great deal about the religious identities of the individuals associated with the culture of truck decoration and, more specifically, how changes in the content and nature of the decoration mirror changes in the role of religion in Pakistani society.
Loudly decorated trucks and buses are commonly found in Japan and Pakistan. In Japan decorative trucks are called “Dekotora” or “Decotora” which is an abbreviation for “decorative trucks”. Decorative trucks and buses commonly have neon or