Explained: Pakistan’s ‘truck art’ – its ride to recognition and a special tribute to Moosewala | Explained News,The Indian Express
About Moosewala’s popularity in Pakistan, Rizwan Mughal from, son of a truck artist from Rawalpindi, said: "It is because of his humble beginnings and struggle in life that people here connect with him. His songs were close to real life. There is a huge craze for Punjabi songs here.”
A tribute to popular singer-songwriter Sidhu Moosewala in the form of a huge portrait of him painted on the back of a truck in Pakistan has gone viral recently. The truck with Moosewala’s portrait belongs to 30-year-old Shahzad Bhatti from Pakistan’s Punjab province. Why is this viral tribute from across the border a special stop in the long-winding journey of Pakistani truck art?
Why does truck art matter in Pakistan?
The space is special as it is usually reserved for Pakistani national heroes and actors/singers.
Painter Haji Naz (65) from Peshawar, who has spent more than five decades painting portraits on trucks in Pakistan, says that a face that is painted on a truck symbolises people’s immense love for that personality.
“In my career, I have painted thousands of trucks. People’s favourites over the years have included General Ayub Khan, General Raheel Sharif, poet Allama Iqbal and most recently Imran Khan too. From the Pakistani music industry, the portraits of singers Atta Ullah Khan Esakhelvi and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan have been widely painted. Till today, we get the orders for painting General Ayub Khan and even freedom fighter Abdul Ghaffar Khan… Among women, Benazir Bhutto has always been among the favourites,” says Naz.
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