This Truck Has Got to Be Special

By Anjum Rana, Sameer Kulavoor - Illustration Design, Hakeem Nawaz, and Amer Khan, Truck Art

“This truck has got to be special!” says truck artist Zarrar to Chinar Gul, a truck driver from Pakistan. Gul—who drives along the mountain roads of the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush—has finally acquired his own vehicle and wants it painted beautifully. As Zarrar gets to work, Gul waits in the yard, thinking about his many journeys, the splendor of the hills, and the intricacies of truck art—until everything is at last ready and it’s time to be off, on the road again!

A richly imagined collaboration between a Pakistani writer, truck artists, and an Indian illustrator, this book celebrates the energy and joy of Pakistani truck art as well as the artists whose skill and labor breathe life into it. All along, the bold graphic vigor of truck art tells its own story.

Anjum Rana is a Pakistan-based interior designer who works with truck artists on furniture, walls, household objects as well as objects d'art. Through the initiative Tribal Truck Art, she has helped develop opportunities and contexts for truck artists to practice their craft in sustainable ways. She is committed to bringing this art into mainstream cultural life and give it the recognition it so richly deserves. She is the recipient of the UNESCO Seal of Excellence in Handicrafts provided a venue for truck artists to paint and sell their work. Tribal Truck Art serves as an advocate for the preservation and promotion of this indigenous, flamboyant unique art form.

Sameer Kulavoor is a visual artist living and working in Mumbai, India.  His work lies in the intersection of graphic design, contemporary illustration, and art - and he has his own studio, Bombay Duck Designs. He publishes art books and zines, which feature characteristic mannerisms and images of urban life, design, and culture. (www.bombayduckdesigns.com)

Tara Books, 2017, hardcover, 10" x 8.5", 56 pages.