Trucking for the future

A blaze of colour awaits inside the premises of the Alliance Francaise. Chairs, benches, cups, chests, lamps, teapots aglow in bright colours at the exhibition of truck Art `Colours of the Road'. Look again and you would think "Hey! Isn't this the art that adorns the trucks and buses of our country?" The motifs of birds in pristine landscapes, enigmatically veiled women with large kohled eyes enticingly beckoning, birds of different plumage and all the various decorative motifs of vines, roses and geometric-floral patterns sashay off objects in vivid colours.
Pearly adornments and cascading waterfalls brush shoulders on the tops of trunks, panels and trays. Truck art now enters the confines of your sitting room in the form of lamps, lanterns, vases and furniture.
That was precisely what was Anjum Raza's intent behind the exhibition; to lift the art from the category of low or kitsch art and show it as something worthy of a formal setting. The art is applied on various objects of use which could also be used functionally in the spirit of Islamic art which abounds with beautiful functional objects of everyday use. Ceramic bowls, plates, jugs, vessels, glass lamps, vases, decanters, ewers and copper trays, pots etc abound in the Islamic tradition.
The credo for the Muslim artist was that "God is beauty and loves beauty" So the artist who was not your modern day formal artist with all the hype and fun fare involved but an ordinary craftsman tried to make each object as beautiful as possible. Be it a lamp, beaker, door, bucket or carpet etc. Art served a practical purpose and was not confined to being hung on the wall as a formal painting. The artist's purpose was not to make his name but to evoke Divine beauty in the objects.
These took the form of geometric patterns, floral scrolls and vines, leafy motifs with pearly ornaments and even pristine landscapes with birds and fish. Most of these motifs surface in the exhibition, which is the closest one could get to the Islamic vision of art.
The infinite varieties of patterns on the objects in beautifully unusual colour combinations reflect the fertility of the artists' imagination observed Anjum. Each object differs from the other and is unique in its combination of pattern and colours.
The exhibits are embellished by different artists from the truck artists' communities scattered in different parts of the city. One main Ustad, known as the 'Haji', residing in Anjum's house oversees the work. The rest of the artists, basically from Peshawar now reside in these communities making their livelihood from painting trucks.
They live in forlorn dwellings, in hovels and their nostalgia for their own homes is reflected in their works, in the rose tinted tranquil landscapes, the brightly plumed parrots, peacocks, the unusual choice of colours dewy pinks pearlescent oranges, ultramarine blues and mossy greens. Yet the artists seem content with their lives or perhaps have resigned themselves to it. Most of them are 'charsis' says Anjum and just fall asleep under the buses. "They are not aware of their talent or what they do," she continued.
"When they saw their objects on display they wondered whether they would be sold. This is the first time they have painted on objects rather than buses and trucks." They would still much prefer to paint a bus and needed much cajoling to paint on the objects Anjum provided them with. Transferring this art on objects requires more time and detailing and lacks the romantic appeal and expanse of the body of a truck. Anjum has been researching on these truck artists for over two years when the art caught her interest and she wished to give it the dignity it deserved. She has also made a documentary on the lives of the truck artists and is also preparing a coffee table book.
"Trucks and buses for both the owner, and painter is much more than a vehicle," she explains. For the truck owners who uses the bus for the transport of goods and persons, the truck or bus is like a bride, or beloved, which is to be treasured and cherished to be displayed like a trophy.
The truckers are willing to spend scores of thousands on the adornment of a bus preferring to live in dismal conditions themselves. Here status also comes in for the more beautiful the truck, the more one's class and well-being is reflected. Clients are also attracted by beautiful buses while for many owner-cum-drivers the truck is a home away from home. So the decoration reflects all that they wish to remember be it the landscapes, women or religious images such as the "Buraq" or fish.
However commercialism now seems to threaten the continuation of this art form. Advertising has surfaced on buses and trucks in the cities with many buses displaying advertisements of soft drinks "and the wave" which Anjum despises. "The truck owners earn from this form of advertising/decoration rather than spending so they are switching to it" Anjum sighs.
The art tradition is passed down from generation to generation in families skilled and specialising in the art but the new generation does not wish to follow in their fathers' footsteps and learn it as they see no future for it. One of the Haji's sons, like the many other youngsters, refuses to follow in his footsteps. "They would rather be mechanics etc" Which is why Anjum wished to preserve this art form and create a niche for it in the Pakistani art scene. To make the average Pakistani realise the beauty of this art worthy to be placed in one's home. The exhibition is dedicated to the artists, with the chief guest: the ustaad Haji.
However demand for the work in Pakistan is still struggling. The expatriates loved the work, Anjum reports "The Russians were excited by the fact that it so resembled their own folk art." She received orders from abroad as well as much recognition for her artisans in the previous exhibition in Lahore as well as in the exhibitions she has had in Ottawa, California. Yet Anjum hopes that the craze would catch on amongst the local Pakistani's themselves, which I suppose is the real test of whether the art had succeeded in crossing the bounds of low kitschy art and been embraced as a fine art.
"It'll take a few bold ones to start the trend," Anjum speculates. But looking at the beautiful chair and bench alive with starry patterns against a midnight blue sky it is hard to believe why not. Any Art Nouveau type setting would be set alight by these `Arabian nights' kind of fantasies.