International Institute for Asian Studies / Association for Asian Studies /
First International Convention of Asia Scholars
Leeuenhorst Conference Centre,
Panel: “ Shaking the Tree: New Approaches to Asian Art” / Session: Decorated Transport
Decorated Trucks of
Durriya Kazi
June 1998.
Meaning is always in process, what has been called “a momentary stop in a continuing flow of interpretations of interpretations”. This paper pauses at some facts and some observations about decorated trucks of
Although there is an extensive network of railways and roads, much of rural
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Trucks were first introduced in
After the late 70's, Japanese makes Nissan, Isuzu and Hino entered the market with better technology and greater tonnage capacity. Dealers had better profit margins with the new makes. The irony is that
Although no new
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A variety of devices are used from enamel hand painted scenes, images and borders to filigree layered coloured perspex, elaborate collaged florescent sticker patterns, reflectors, mirror work and carved and inlaid wood. The trucks have a more sophisticated aesthetic than one is immediately aware of with dominant colour schemes and thematic imagery. There is usually a large single image at the back of a favourite film star, politician, mystic, dancing horse, the buraq - half flying horse half woman, a famous building, a sunset or a single flower. Images of reality such as F-16s or the latest political hero are disarmed within the ambient fantasy scapes of impossible sunsets and mythological beasts. The sides of a high body will be composed in panels although occasionally a single image may run across the whole side.The top of the cab, or the Taj, will have a rose or a mosque or foliate patterns in carved and painted wood or mirror work. The rest of the body is busily filled with a range of related images and borders. Poetry is an important part of truck art with verses ranging from the humorous and irreverent to the deeply philosophical. There is room for humour, for political observation. But the enduring theme is love and sweet romance with hearts crossed by arrows, bleeding with unrequited love and veiled beauties staring enigmatically.
The interior of the cab is also baroquely decorated with brocades encased in plastic, coloured lights, mirror work, and music by the few favourites of truck drivers. A truck has to be seen at night on unlit highways for all its excess of reflectors and florescent stickers to be truly appreciated.
Today most truck bodies are fabricated in steel, but keep the same proportions as the wooden bodies.
Regional styles have evolved. Peshawer trucks are formally restrained with greater emphasis on the older style of large lettering dominating the sides and small cameo images placed according to a strict canon two thirds down the panel.
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The Trucks of the 30s and 40s were simply painted with a protective coat of one colour with some simple single colour stencil decoration. The stencilled images on trucks merely elaborated the names of the truck companies presumably for those who could not read. The three main companies were New Muluk ( New Country) Sitara-e-Hilal ( Crescent and Star) and Taj Mahal. This extent of decoration remained for a couple of decades. One may have inclined to agree with Coomeraswamy that “for the first time in history we created an industry without art”. This did not remain the case for long.
One of the claimants for establishing the beginnings of truck decoration was Haji Hussain. Haji Hussain came from a long line of Kamangars (bow and arrow makers) turned court painters in Kutch Bujh,
Haji Hussain added to the stencilled trucks, his repertoire of imagery starting with simple images of birds, flower vases, a telephone with a woman’s hand picking up the receiver on which the company’s telephone number would be written. As interest grew with the boom in transport business in the 60's, the decorative devices became more elaborate and with the contributions of others, evolved into the baroque trucks of today. Many of Haji Hussain’s apprentices have become Ustads in their own right establishing painting and decorating workshops all over
Today his sons and grandsons carry on the tradition of chitarkari, painting trucks, sign writing or decorating furniture and decorative light panels with Yusuf, the eldest, as the Ustad or Master.
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Since the last century, industrialisation and urbanisation brought about many changes in society. In the past, skilled artisans would produce hand crafted goods in return for board and lodging especially between agricultural harvests. Sixty four crafts are mentioned in ancient Indian texts. This interdependent barter based society was soon changed to a wage based cash economy that could not be supported by the older system.
Colonial powers did not maintain the system of state patronage. In addition, Colonial powers did not maintain the structure of state patronage. The British official considered miniaturists “deficient in a knowledge of all those refinements of the art which (were) to be acquired by taste being rightly directed” (C.S.Francis Sketches of Native life in
The introduction of the printing press made possible the sale of lithographs and woodcuts - replacing the need for murals. Religious properties lost financial support, often becoming offices for British officers. Decorative items like tiles, as was the case with textiles, began to be imported from
Inevitably there was a migration and displacement of skilled artisans. Many skills disappeared as the next generation turned to other ways of earning money. Some artisans moved to urban centres adapting their skills to various market requirements from the building trade to small low technology workshops producing machine parts. There was, of course, a historical precedent for exchange of skills, not least the spread of Islamic empires including those of the sub-continent that encouraged the migration of craftsman, a major contribution to the growth of art. However these exchanges were based on enhanced value of skills and not displacement.
Vehicle decoration has been one of the more positive absorbers of these re-located skills. It is possible to read truck decoration as a gathering of regional crafts, from Kashmiri wood carving to mural painting from Gujrat. This ecclectic nature of truck art has been the main factor of its ability to absorb and create new styles. If a skill exists, a place will be created to utilise it. Florescent stickers are converted to complex collaged images or a C-D Rom becomes a number plate on a Vespa scooter. This willingness to adapt existing skills to incorporate new products keeps vehicle decoration vital and contemporary.
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Another sub-text to the reading of the development of decorated transport is the subversion of class. Along with the atomising of social structures as elaborated, the Raj re-invented the dominant classes creating people who were encouraged to view the British way of life as progressive and desirable.
A popular sub-culture, however, continued its path unnoticed through all the historical periods of the region, changing or not, absorbing or rejecting new influences. While some cultural events such as Taazia processions have mostly remained as they were for a thousand years, others such as wedding celebrations, have changed with lifestyle.
Partition itself created a displacement of social hierarchies, a dismantling of power structures that were rapidly replaced by new ones both at the political, economic and social levels. People who once lived in havelis or mansions were living in temporary tin shelters, those who were at the periphery of Empire now found a dominant voice.
Truck art is a very visible indicator of this change. Truck owners, mostly tribal and uneducated now had access to craftsmen that were reserved for the ruling classes of a recent past. The images on trucks reflect the interests and pastimes of the upper classes - hunting deer, falconry, the hunting chalet presented as an image of paradise, gardens of leisure peopled with peacock and grouse, travels to far off places. Literary references, eg. The Buraq, a favourite of poets from the Persian traditions. And all trucks in fact all decorated vehicles have a mandatory verse usually full of bittersweet longing or nostalgia in the tradition of classical Urdu poetry.
The cab itself can be seen as a king’s throne room. The structure above the cab, called tellingly a taj or crown, recalls the Jharoka or balcony from which the king would see and be seen. The seats refer to the rich silk and brocade textiles associated with kings, the ceiling is adorned with interpretations of the sheesh mahal or the palace of mirrors, a favourite architectural device of Mughal kings. The Palace became accessible to the new “Kings of the Road” as they often write on their vehicles.
However, this is not to say that Truck Art is nostalgia for a past order. On the contrary it is a claim, a subversion; a culture outside paternalistic considerations; a space for the generation of a popular culture outside the controlling influence of the dominant classes. There is no concession to taste or to acquiring status. There is rather a disinterest in what has now become the other. It is a question of sampling what there is access to. It is exercising the power of acquired wealth. The paintings depict the animals and scenic views most admired by the common man both for the qualities they represent as well as the lifestyle they imply - an ideal quite removed from their everyday experience of dry dusty routes and crowded cities.
The Art of the aristocracy was obliged, in a sense, to represent continuity of power which it did by re-enforcing established canons. Popular art, however, serves a different time frame. Although it uses a convention as the vehicle for the idea, it can be invigorated, changed or renewed because ultimately it is a reflection of today, the present - which somehow speaks for the life of the individual in that moment of time when he has no other voice.
All decorated vehicles no matter how old the model, when repainted will write the year it was painted as the date of the model. In other words, the painting becomes the authenticating “document”. No symbols are being created for posterity. After a punishing year or two on the road, the painting will be sprayed over and re decorated. This allows the works to adapt and reflect change through imagery and icons. New materials that appear in the market are immediately given a space in existing art forms which are in this way constantly being renewed and revitalised. Eccentric Japanese wall clocks will find their way into Taazia decoration, reflective tape has created a whole new style of Truck decoration. These urban crafts have their own acceptable or unacceptable aesthetic rules. The innovation becomes more meaningful poised as it is on the edge of change and tradition.
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This brings us to the other player in the development of this art : not the owner but the artist himself. There is an unspoken understanding that within the broad requirements of the owner, the artist is trusted and given the respect to use his own aesthetic solutions. Before we make a neat assumption of having “understood” what
Truck Art is about we need to turn our attention to the images themselves and the aesthetic they represent.
It is apparent that these images are what Coomeraswamy calls “memory pictures”. Apart from underlining the fact that this is a reflection of a lifestyle not the lifestyle itself, it also indicates the layered complexity of Truck Art. Even in portraiture only the ideal is represented. The degree of realism, is merely a reflection of the keenness of artist’s memory and observation. The artist makes the forms with which he is familiar and which appeal to his imagination. Realism is not the issue.
The idea of the memory picture is not just a matter of lack of opportunity for direct observation but rather related to both Muslim concepts of Fana and Hindu concepts of Maya. The appearance is not the reality . The intention is not about communicating a physical observation but arousing particular kinds of emotions and aspirations. This was a device used eg. In Ragamala paintings, in the canons of poetry and particularly by the sufi traditions of the Indian sub-continent. The saturated colours communicate the intensity of experience and is a device used for festival decoration to enhance the experience and its significance. The imagery is primarily symbolic, either consciously or as an unquestioned hand down from tradition referring to literary and religious sources. Symbols become points of entry, gateways to a glimpse of eternal truths.
Some examples are:
The Buraq, a commonly used image of a flying white horse with a woman’s face based on literary references, is symbolic of the spiritual journey ( miraj) of the Prophet Mohammed to the seven Heavens and to God. The image evolved through the works of Persian poets such as Fariduddin Attar, Nizami and the Turkish poet Ghanizade in whose work the Buraq, which means lightening, evolved into the mythic flying horse with a woman’s face and usually a peacock’s tail. The saviour on a white horse and of the winged beast and the pari also exists in legends across the middle east region and is also seen in Indian legend as, e.g., Kalki, one of the avatars of
Traditions of the Near East and Central Asia abound with composite animals and even a seal from the Indus Civilisation shows a bull with a human face, the trunk and tusk of an elephant and hind legs of a tiger. The Mughal Emperors, Akbar and Jehangir developed pictorial carpets with winged horses dragons in forests and fantasy folklore. The Ancient Indian texts the Puranas also mention 16 composite animals each with 16 poses ie 256 forms that serve to ward off the evil eye.
A variety of birds are painted. The peacock is a favourite from palace to mud hut. The parrot is a symbol of humour coupled with intelligence. The eagle is, as everywhere, a symbol of ambition and power.
The cypress, a favourite symbol of Indo Persian poetry reflects the qualities of the perfect man. It also conveniently doubles up as an image of “home” for the majority of truck drivers who are Pathans and so is a frequently used image.
The Red Rose is used in everyday life on all occasions from birth to death, a rose garland will celebrate the passing of an exam the completion of Haj, to honour the bridal couples, to decorate the bridal chamber, to spread over a grave or for no reason at all just to scent ones room or wrist. The tradition is that during the Miraj drops of the Prophet Mohammed’s sweat fell to ground and a fragrant rose appeared Generally his presence is associated with the scent of roses. In Truck art, anything that is dear is shown nestling within a rose.
The flowering plant in a pot is a symbol of prosperity, of life and its gifts. At the classical end are, e.g., the naturalistically rendered Persian Guldans seen at
The symbolism of the fish is less simple to trace. Its association with the river and the sea notwithstanding it has a complex heritage filtered through historical events and Indian astrology seen eg. in the gateways of
In Rajastani iconography, a multi armed headless god comes out of the mouth of a fish which one may speculate has been secularised in the motif of flowers springing out of the fish’s mouth, a repeated image on Pakistani trucks.
Animals presented as symbols of human qualities and human action is a well known tradition dating at least from the Kalila and Dhimna, the inspiration for Aesop and itself inspired by the Sanskrit fables of Bidpai.Other well known stories mentioning animals are Tota Kahani, Alif Laila, Bagho Bahar, Khwaja Sar Parast and the works of Luqman and Fariduddin Attar.
Animals such as the Lion, a favourite, represent manly strength and the ability to overawe the enemy. In
Coomaraswamy presents two descriptions of a lion, the one Indian, the other Chinese. According to the Indian canon: The lion has eyes like the hare, a fierce aspect, soft hair long on his chest and under his shoulders, his back is plump like a sheep his body is that of a blooded horse, his gait is stately and his tail long. The lion of the Chinese canon has a form like that of the tiger and with a colour tawny or sometimes blue. The lion is like Muku-inu, a shaggy dog. He has a huge head hard as bronze, a long tail forehead as firm as iron hooked fangs eyes like bended bows and raised ears. His eyes flash like lightening and his roar is like thunder.
The lion he says need not be like any lion on earth. Rather, the lion tells us something of the people who represented him.
Truck art re-interprets the court or aulic aesthetic through the folk art of Western regions of the sub-continent. The use of folk art techniques : circles dots lines hooks spades etc can, of course, also be seen in the miniatures of Rajastan and
The wrapping of decorated metal over objects or architectural details is an old custom, as is the practice of decorating everything that is valued from temple to ghetto blasters.
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Popular culture in
In this sense the Truck is a talisman. If you press a truck owner beyond a simple “because it looks nice” to explain why he spends so much on decorating his truck when he would be reluctant to spend the same on home improvements, he will tell you that if he does not honour the source of his livelihood, there will be no “barkat” in his business. Clues to superstition are all over the decorated truck. The eyes that ward off the evil eye and keep a watchful God awake - a tradition that spreads from Turkey to roadside shrines in India, the manat cloths or religious pledges that hang from the truck body, the poetry that suggests that the owner owes his prosperity only to God, or that a mother's prayer will open the doors of Heaven, or simply spreads a message of good will to all. Every truck route is lined with shrines outside which stand people day and night who collect a token coin or rupee to ensure a safe journey. In fact at one level the act of decorating the truck is perhaps a parallel to the activity when visiting a shrine of showering scented red rose petals or a cover woven with strung red roses or a gilt cloth on the grave of a shrine.
The role of the sufis in the development of vernacular poetry in Sindhi, Punjabi and Purbhi, is well known. Equally significant is its role in developing vernacular and popular art. The sufis were often manual workers. The patron saint of craftsmen was often a mystic and after his death, his tomb became a centre for craftsmen especially at the annual Urs or gathering of devotees usually accompanied by a fair. Eg Bahauddin Naqshband of
The path to God and Truth in sufi tradition is only limited by the limits of the imagination. This is expressed in the excessive architecture of mazars or shrines and the cult of the hyperreal that links all expressions of popular culture. The 99 names of God re-enforces the idea of multiplicity to express the power of unity . Excess becomes a virtue.
In Truck art which is ultimately a cultural text, as in mazaar architecture, every conceivable material and form can be used for decorative devices and ornamentation. Truck artists create impossible dreamscapes, heady sunsets that bear no resemblance to the muddy oil soiled surroundings of truck stands. So the reality of reality is dismissed.
Ultimately of course, it is not what is painted that draws attention. As Horkheimer writes, authentic culture persuades through its forms rather than commands through its content.
The shrine is a cultural event not a place. The mela or fair is an integral part of the shrine where there is acceptance of all. Society’s outsiders, mentally or physically disabled, those burdened by life’s trials, women with unhappy marriages,transvestites, the world’s tallest man, all are the same in the eyes of the Saint, all equally favoured for his intercession with God. It has been and still is the centre that fulfills the spiritual needs of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. The success of art and cultural expression in the sub-continent is linked to its ability to syncretise and assimilate both at the high art level and in popular art which has a more overt ecclectic aesthetic.
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Jung says man’s most vital need is to discover his own reality through the cultivation of a symbolic life
What could be very drab lives are interspersed with symbolic events and ceremonies. Ritual adds structure to lives, gives the illusion of empowerment in a situation of dependence and powerlessness. Real events such as birth, death and marriage are heightened to an intensity, cajoled into significance through ritual that elevates the commonplace by amplifying it as communal experience. When the shamianas or decorated tents go up in a local street or empty plot, when the glitter of lights hides the piled up dirt, and the bride is overdressed in red and gold, and her mother is unrecognisably glamorous after an appointment at the beauty parlour, then, for that evening, life is in control. As Susan Sontag has written “fantasy can.... normalise what is psychologically unbearable.” Young girls doomed to a life of domestic chores will often keep one hand beautifully manicured with glass bangles, ring and painted nails while the other, the working hand has no such adornment. Perhaps this symbolises the role of The Dream as a parallel existence in everyday lives.
Popular art is an important way of transformation. It is itself a ritual that overcomes isolation and silence. An anonymous mass produced truck is personalised to an unimaginable extent. It is an assertion that renders society's invisible visible and becomes a claim for the human spirit to not be overlooked in an increasingly homogenising world.
(4800 words)
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Saleh Muhammed, Cinema artist,
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Mama Lateef, Spray Painter,
Mohammed Saleem, spray painter
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Muazzam Pervaiz, Ghandhara Nissan Deisel Ltd,
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