Changing times: Prolific truck artist wishes another life for son

Exhibition at Satrang Gallery features traditional work of truck artists.

ISLAMABAD:

If you have ever seen an adorned truck with the lettering Geo Papa Riaz, you have seen my work.

This was stated by Ejaz Hussain, 62, who along with his brothers has been embellishing trucks with garish and invigorating images, unique to Pakistan’s creative terrain, that pull drivers through their long journeys across dusty and sometimes dangerous landscapes for the last four decades. Lingering near a modest stall displaying vibrant trays and vases as part of an exhibition under the patronage of the Satrang Gallery at the Serena Hotel, Hussain made a few sales on Wednesday.

While truck-art has permeated popular culture, inspiring fashion lines and interior furnishings, encouraging truck-artists to explore the non-traditional utilities of their crafts in the form of painted trunks, teapots, decorative items, their clientele remains limited to foreigners and artists at large.

According to Hussain, the burgeoning pursuit is not one that brings in the dough, but serves to honour a craft unique to Pakistan and some parts of neighboring Afghanistan.

“Fifty years ago, when my eldest brother ventured into the trade, trucks were in solid colours with sparse designs --- you would see a single bird or a flower and lettering that flaunted ownership,” he shares, explaining that the trend grew through rivalry between painters, leading to the overindulgence of imagery on the vehicles. “There is no set narrative for how it began, it was the organic culmination of a battle for lavishness between competing businesses.”



Forty-five years later, the unassuming artist is hesitant about passing on the trade to his son who is now at the precipice of adulthood, a time when Hussain had already embraced the art of embellishing trucks with vivid depictions of textbook flora and fauna and the provincial aesthetics that marked the narratives of Rawalpindi.

“With inflation and conflict, and because of a general increase in competition, the value of our labour has dwindled,” says an ambivalent Hussain who wants to preserve the tradition but would prefer his children to pursue a different path. “I have deliberately kept my son away from the craft even though he has shown a keenness for it.”

According to Hussain, it takes between 10 to 12 days to finish the work on a truck and savings are between Rs10,000 to 15,000. For truck-owners, who pay an average of Rs40,000 for the embellishment of their trucks, the more extravagant the designs, the greater the perception will be of their prosperity among their immediate circle of friends, family and businessmen.

“The cost of labour, materials and overheads has increased so much now that our savings are scanty,” he shared, reminiscing of his earlier years in the trade when savings were plentiful, despite the low cost of trucks. “We saved three-fourths of our earnings from a Rs500 job.”

The artisan’s work is on exhibit at the courtyard behind Rakaposhi restaurant from 11am to 6pm until November 3 and is a must-see display for truck-art aficionados.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2013.