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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.
Yet closer to home some people sneer and refuse to call it “art”.
For the drivers, the designs that turn decades-old vehicles into moving murals are often about local pride. Picking the right color or animal portrait is tougher than the countless hours spent on the road.
Truck driver Haji Ali Bahadur, who hails from the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, said green and yellow had been his colours of choice during the 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.”
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.
Plastic bottles used to store water and a tire stopper are wedged on the side of a decorated truck in Faisalabad.
Speakers and a fan are seen in the cab of a decorated truck.
A worker washes a decorated truck in Peshawar.
A driver holds open the door of the carved wood cab of his decorated truck.
Decorations cover the gear shift of a decorated truck.
Boys pose for a picture in front of a truck.
Scenes of Islam’s holy sites in Mecca and Medina are seen on a decorated truck.
Workers unload fruit from a decorated truck at the wholesale produce market in Faisalabad.
Artwork adorns a truck’s tire.
Drivers rest on beds at a truck stop outside Faisalabad.
Workers load straw onto a decorated truck.
The post In pictures: Trucks in Pakistan adopt colorful makeover appeared first on Travel Wire Asia.
Source: travelwireasia.com