Islamabad: Pakistan’s traditional truck art has made its way into popular culture, moving beyond trucks to everyday lifestyle. Today, this colourful and elaborate form of art is not just seen on trucks but everywhere. And there is one artist who has dabbled in all forms of truck art from cars to planes.
Haider Ali is one of Pakistan’s finest truck artists. From painting trucks to cars, murals and canvases, home decor items such as kettles, pillow covers and shoes, he has painted them all with Pakistan’s iconic and vibrant truck art. Ali has even painted two Cessna aircraft in traditional colours, attracting massive appreciation from the art lovers from around the world.
Ali painted his first truck at the age of 16 and since then, he has painted everything from canvases to vehicles, walls to shrines in Pakistan and around the world.
The third-generation artist hails from the city of Karachi, the commercial hub of the country which is known as the centre of all truck art activity. Ali grew up in the Garden area of Karachi, passionately painting since the age of about seven years, learning the distinctive art from his father at home like most truck artists in Pakistan. Haider Ali’s home is also his art studio and art school where he teaches his children, hoping that they would continue the family legacy.
The 42-year-old artist, who spent much of his life creating truck art, told Gulf News that for him truck art is a means to show “colours of Pakistan to the world.” He continued that “This art is a passion, continuing the family tradition and promoting Pakistan’s artistic identity globally.”
Sharing one of his biggest achievements, Ali said his first foreign visit in 2002 to the ‘Smithsonian Folklife Festival’ in Washington to exhibit Pakistan’s truck art was “one of the most memorable and proud moments for me and my family.” Watching him create flawless arts with swift and spontaneous brushstrokes wowed many foreigners at the exhibition. “The visitors and artists were simply amazed to see this unique and vibrant art from Pakistan and eager to learn” so he worked with American artists to create memories and more of Pakistan’s traditional truck art in the United States, he said.
Ali has travelled to Turkey, France, Canada, UK among other countries, representing Pakistani art through his painting projects. Ali also teaches the craft to young artists at different schools in Pakistan, fostering their curiosity and imagination. He is also part of Phool Patti, an organization that promotes truck artists from Pakistan across the world.
Two years ago just before the pandemic began, Ali established a truck art design school and studio at his residence in Karachi. He described it as the first step towards achieving his dream project: to build a world-class truck art school. With this school, he aims to “introduce truck art to galleries and museums all over the world, highlight Pakistan’s cultural identity and revive the traditional art by encouraging both digital and conventional skills,” he shared.
