Trucks as Art: Pakistan's Colorful Tradition, With a Midwestern Twist - Nadia Rasul

Nadia Rasul is Senior Multimedia Intern at Asia Blog. She's pursuing a Master's in International Affairs at The New School.

Cargo trucks painted in bright colors, with an extremely intricate level of detail, are a common sight on the the highways of Pakistan. The paintings -- often coupled with lines of poetry, religious calligraphy or common phrases -- represent the truck driver's identity and regional background. The images on the trucks embody a wide range of themes, including landscapes, celebrities, beautiful women, mythical creatures, religious imagery and national heroes.

While these fully functional trucks are used only for transporting goods in South Asia, Asheer Akram,
a young American artist from Kansas City, Missouri has embarked on the project of building a Pakistani cargo truck with a Midwestern twist in the hope of mixing venerable South Asian traditions with modern American culture.

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