Shahi Qila comes alive with truck art

The Walled City of Lahore Authority has organised a truck art workshop at Lahore Fort to promote and highlight the work of the artists. Truck art, in which artists create designs on trucks and buses using bold and dark colours, has become an iconic feature of Pakistani roads. It's been a part of the country's cultural heritage since the early 1950s and is primarily done in Rawalpindi, Karachi and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, along with a few artists in Lahore as well. Hasan Ali is one of the many artists participating in the workshop. As he busily creates truck art on a small canvas, he explains while speaking to The Express Tribune that truck art involves the use of not only colours but also plastic pieces for decoration. The pieces shine at night when light falls on them, adding to the beauty of the design. “What makes truck art unique is that there is no designer involved in the process. All the carvings are a creation of the artist's mind. The artist thinks of a design and scatters it on the body of the truck through colours,” he pointed out. Ali learned the skill from his father and has been practicing it for 14 years. The workshop has attracted the attention of tourists visiting the Shahi Qila and Badshahi Mosque. The artists have created designs on various utensils, clothes and decorative items, which have become the centre of attention due to their bright and bold colours. Visitors buy the small pieces of art as souvenirs to keep in their drawing rooms. A visitor, Fatima Zeeshan, expressed her surprise at the workshop under way near the main gate of the fort. She bought a model decorated with truck art. Another tourist, Sehar Afshan, expressed similar feelings, saying that visitors from within the country and abroad not only came to see the ancient walls but also wanted to experience the culture. The event organiser from the Walled City of Lahore Authority, Rana Ali Haider, stated that the aim was to highlight the endangered truck art and provide an opportunity to promote the craftsmanship of the artists. “These activities not only provide employment opportunities for people but also play an essential role in promoting tourism,” he added. Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2023.

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