About
Truck Art
Truck Art of
Pakistan
Just like the Billboard painting performed in Pakistan,
there is another indigenous form of art performed in Pakistan and it is the
Truck Painting. With its all colorful floral patterns, depiction of human
heroes with creative aspect ratios, calligraphy of poetic verses and driver’s
words of wisdom, this form of art is truly a part of Pakistani transport
tradition.
Pakistan has a culture in which people living there have
some sub culture. Truck art basically is basically a part of Peshwari Culture.
The art of decorating trucks, which is highly popular among truck drivers, can
be used to learn much about the trends of various regions and the aesthetics of
people of different ethnicity Often, the art on the truck is a
direct reflection of an ideology that the truck driver strongly believes in.
Drivers belonging to different regions and backgrounds
decorate their trucks differently, often suggesting a pattern that depicts the
culture, rituals and the ground realities of the areas that they belong to. The
rear of the truck is often decorated in very vibrant colours and patterns,
ranging from hot-pink cone-shaped trees to ancient tribal kings and queens.
The paintings and decoration on a truck can be used to tell
which area the truck comes from, an experienced truck artist, Pervaiz, told in
an interview on Dawn News Channel. “Most of the Pakhtun truck drivers demand
paintings of sceneries, birds like chakoor and eagles and pictures of leaders
like Ayub Khan and Imran Khan,” he said. Pictures of the film star Saima and
pictures of Benazir Bhutto had recently become common among truck drivers,
however, no current political leaders were being painted, he added.
Truck bumpers are also often used to convey messages and
provide information about the group the truck belongs to. In fact the bumpers
are sometimes inscribed with philosophy works. A bumper of a truck read: “I
have the life of an unfaithful companion. The punishment of my life has been
far greater than my sins”.
These truck bodies are immaculately painted by the street
artists who can be found at Truck stands all across the country. e.g. Hawkes
Bay/Mauripur Road Karachi, Pir Wadhai Rawalpindi, Badami Bagh Lahore, Sariab
Road Quetta etc. It is said that every city’s artists have perfected their art
in their own signature way. Trucks decorated in Quetta and Peshawar get lots of
wood trimming where as those in Rawalpindi get lots of plastic decoration.
Karachi excels in using reflective tapes, also called ‘chamak patty’ in local
language. Camel bone decoration is used by artists of rural Sindh.
This art is so Pakistani, that the freight trucks which are
built by Ford, General Motors, Hino Pak etc in beautiful aerodynamic shapes are
first retro-fitted with very Pakistani style bodies and a special ‘viewing
deck’ at the top of Driver’s cab. The ‘viewing deck’ is a very multipurpose
extra space. It is used by ‘cleaners’ to sleep at night and also to load extra
luggage when needed.
The extraordinary tradition of decorating trucks has its
roots in the days of the raj when craftsmen made glorious horse drawn carriages
for the gentry. In the 1920s the Kohistan Bus Example of truck Art.
Generally, the truck art is divided into several categories
which cater for different themes including ideal personalities, national
heroes, religious symbols, landscape images and poetries and powerful animals
like lion and horses. A truck owner can decide to go with any of the themes of
his choice to represent anything or idea he loves and admires the most.
Most of the truck owners in Pakistan belong to Pathan
Community. Pathans are well known for their social values. They are divided
into several tribes. Each tribe shows its culture and pride through truck art
using different themes and symbols. Owning a truck is a symbol of pride among
pathans and a truck is not just a wheeler but a social symbol in a tribal
region.
Even today truck decoration art is on move and as time
passed by this practice is becoming more appealing and meaningful. Though, the
painting doesn’t serve the same idea anymore, that is to attract passengers but
it is still as widespread as ever.
Looking at the fact that Pakistan has a low per capita
income, the money spent on truck art seems surprising. Nevertheless it’s a
passion which motivates truck owners to decorate their trucks and make several
structural adjustments which converts these road-dominating horrors into
beautiful heartbreaking canvases. Popularity of truck art among truck owners of
several tribes is also a source of employment in the truck industry.
Truck Artist from Pakistan
Haider Ali
Haider Ali Is a very famous truck Artist from Pakistan. Haider Ali grew up in
Karachi, Pakistan and learned to paint from a senior truck artist. Today he has
become one of the most celebrated truck artists in Pakistan and abroad. Haider
has been invited the world over to display his talent. He has exhibited at the
museum of Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC and painted a truck in Luton,
England, for a special Truck Art exhibition at Luton's Stockwood Discovery
Centre in March and April
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD5USF1pn0c
Sanjhi
Mathura, UP
Sanjib is a ritualistic craft used in the
worship of Lord Krishna. This craft involves the cutting of an intricate
stencil depicting scenes from the life of Lord Krishna and the use of this
paper stencil in making rangolis. The origin of the word sanjih, it is felt,
could either be derived from the sancha or mould from which the stencil is cut
or it could have originated from the word sanjh --- the coming of dusk --- when
the rangoli was traditionally unveiled in the temples. Though rangoli-making is
practised in most parts of India and has, for centuries, been a part of the
ritualistic worship of the gods, the craft of sanjih is rare. The craftsmen at
Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh are among the few still carrying on the age-old
tradition, the origins of which are lost in antiquity.
The intricate templates that are cut in the form of the
image that is to be seen are the artists' tool rather than the final piece of
art work. The cutting of the sanjhi requires enormous concentration and skill
for a single slip can mar hours of work. In temples in north India dedicated to
Lord Vishnu, stencils were cut in banana leaves and in paper for the rangoli
that was to be used to embellish the courtyard of the inner sanctum. Presently,
the art of using the sanjih is practised mainly in temples and homes in
Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh and it is used to depict the different episodes in
Lord Krishna's life";" these episodes are linked to festivals in the
Vraja calendar. The most important of these festivals is the Vraja Yatra --- a
period of 45 days in September and October when pilgrims from all over India
visit the sites associated with Lord Krishna. During this period sanjihs are
used to decorate places of worship, both in homes and temples. The episodes in
Lord Krishna's life that are depicted through sanjihs change every day with
appropriate themes adorning specific locations. The temple priests and
craftspersons fill in sanjihs with coloured powders applied through the
stencils. When the sanjih is unveiled in time for the evening prayers it is
worshipped to the accompaniment of songs narrating stories about Lord Krishna's
life. The sanjih is then effaced in the morning and a new characterisation is
then made. The material used is then disposed off in the Yamuna. Sanjih's are
now created on only five of the holy days unlike in the past when each day saw
the creation of a new sanjih. Traditionally a craft practised only by men, it
was priests in the temple who created the sanjihs. Due to the large size of the
temple, it took at least eight priests to finish the sanjih for the evening
unveiling.
The rangoli that
fills in the sanjih can be made of fresh flowers, coloured stones, metal foil,
pieces of mirror, and coloured powder, the last being the most popular. It can
also be applied on walls or floors of houses. The equipment required to cut a
sanjih is minimal. Paper or banana leaves are used as the base material. The
craftsperson starts work only after offering prayers to his guru (teacher) who
taught him the craft, his tools, and the gods. The first stage in the process
of creating a sanjih is the sketching of the theme and pattern. If more than
one copy is required the papers are pinned together on all sides. The cutting
of the sanjih is the next step. The scissors used are very fine and slightly
curved at one end to enable detailed cutting. Each craftsperson individualises
the curve on the scissors to suit personal requirements. (When not in use the
scissors are carefully wrapped in cloth to protect the tip and as a mark of respect
to the tool that creates the sanjih.) While cutting, the paper is rotated so
that the intricate design can be cut. The number of paper cuts that are used
for any design depend on the intricacy of the pattern and the number of colours
to be used, as each colour requires a separate paper cut of its own. Each paper
cut is folded at the corner tip, and the craftsperson uses this fold to gently
lift up the paper once the colour has been applied through the cutout. The
crucial moment is when the colour has been filled in and it is time to lift up
the sanjih. The craftsperson holds his breath as even a faint breathe of air
can disturb the colours and gently, in a single movement, removes the sanjih.
Banam, The Santal Art
An
important part of social life of the Santal is music, dance and singing in
turn. Dances are linked with the fertility of the harvest, and men and women
perform them separately before and after the rainy season, and between sowing
and harvesting.
The musical instruments that we are addressing here are called dhodro banam, literally meaning, “hollow instrument”. It belongs to the sarinda family, a type of lute with a partially open body that is covered with skin on the lower part. This instrument is played with a bow in the manner of a violin, but in a vertical position, and is found in Iran, Pakistan, Nepal, India and Central Asia.
Such instruments have been removed from their original environment and have fallen into disuse due to the strong social and cultural pressure of the dominant Hindu population and due to the zeal of Christian missionaries. They have been burnt, buried, let to rot or sold off to the trade, so it is difficult to retrieve precise information about them. From a musical viewpoint, the dhodro banam is a simple instrument. It generally has only one string, and its archaic appearance points to the dhodro banam being a regressive form of the sarinda.
The musical instruments that we are addressing here are called dhodro banam, literally meaning, “hollow instrument”. It belongs to the sarinda family, a type of lute with a partially open body that is covered with skin on the lower part. This instrument is played with a bow in the manner of a violin, but in a vertical position, and is found in Iran, Pakistan, Nepal, India and Central Asia.
Such instruments have been removed from their original environment and have fallen into disuse due to the strong social and cultural pressure of the dominant Hindu population and due to the zeal of Christian missionaries. They have been burnt, buried, let to rot or sold off to the trade, so it is difficult to retrieve precise information about them. From a musical viewpoint, the dhodro banam is a simple instrument. It generally has only one string, and its archaic appearance points to the dhodro banam being a regressive form of the sarinda.
can i have the mail id of that karigarhat organization???
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