Truck art is a popular form of regional decoration in South Asia, with Pakistani and Indian trucks featuring elaborate floral patterns and calligraphy. Pakistani decorated trucks servicing Afghanistan came to be known as jingle trucks by American troops and contractors.
"Jingle truck" origin
The term jingle truck comes from the United States military slang, coined by servicemen in Afghanistan, although it may date to the British colonial period. The term came to be because of the "jingle" sound that the trucks make due to the chains hanging from the bumpers of the vehicles.
Practice
Many trucks and buses are highly customized and decorated by their owners. External truck decoration can cost thousands of dollars. The decoration often contains elements that remind the truck drivers of home, since they may be away from home for months at a time. The art is a mode of expression for the truck drivers. Decoration may include structural changes, paintings, calligraphy and ornamental-decor like mirror work on the front and back of vehicles and wooden carvings on the truck doors. Depictions of various historical scenes and poetic verses are also common. Outfitting is often completed at a coach workshop. Chains and pendants often dangle off the front bumper.
Artists
Phool Ji an artist name of Mr. Syed Phool Badshah is a well known truck artist who is best known for his unique style of doing Fine Arts with Truck art. Nafees Ahmad Khan, a truck art artist in Indore, is well known throughout India and has been designing one truck every day for over thirty-two years. One of the most prominent truck artists is Haider Ali. Trained by his father from his youth, he first came to international attention in 2002 when he painted a Pakistani truck as part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Regional styles
In Pakistan, Karachi is a major city centre for truck art, though there are other hubs in Rawalpindi, Swat, Peshawar, Quetta and Lahore. Trucks from Balochistan and Peshawar are often heavily trimmed with wood, while trucks from Rawalpindi and Islamabad often feature plastic work. Camel bone ornamentation and predominance of red colours is commonly seen on trucks decorated in Sindh. In India, the Delhi-based artist Tilak Raj Dhir states that the slogans he adds to his truck art, which is prevalent throughout the National Capital Region, often change with the socio-political atmosphere. Truck art in Hindi and Urdu is sometimes called Phool Patti.
Influence
Truck art has extended beyond the decoration and ornamentation of trucks into other forms and media.
Cars
Though cars are not traditionally decorated in South Asia, there are examples of cars embellished in a truck art style. In 2009, The Foxy Shahzadi, a 1974 VW Beetle decordated in a truck art style, travelled from Pakistan to France in a 25-day journey. In the Indian city of Mumbai, some drivers decorate their taxis in a truck art style.
