On November 19th, 2009, amidst Mona Naqsh’s brightly colored floral canvases, Philadelphia residents and members of SABA gathered to listen to a lecture on Pakistani truck decoration from Jamal J. Elias, the current Chair of the Department of Religious Studies and the Class of 1965 Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Elias, who received his BA from Stanford University, his MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and his PhD from Yale University, is the world’s foremost expert on Pakistani truck art, and has written extensively on the subject. He is also an expert on the study of Islam and Muslim society and has written widely on the Qur’an, Sufism, poetry and modern society.
Elias’ lecture highlighted the social function of the Pakistani truck decoration phenomenon, highlighting the religious and political imagery that is incorporated into the designs and the significance of the artistic decisions in representations of religious iconography and political figures. The truck decorations allow viewers to learn a great deal about the current social attitudes. In Pakistan, trucks are the primary form of transportation for the majority of the population. Only the elite bourgeoisie own cars (approximately 2.5% of the population), leaving the remaining 97.5% to rely upon other forms of transportation. Additionally, the rail network in Pakistan was originally created for troop transport by the British and the country has never invested in expanding the rail system. Therefore, the vast majority of goods in Pakistan are moved by truck and every single privately owned truck is decorated in this highly detailed, extravagant and colorful manner. The high level of decoration requires that these trucks be redone every five years, which is an incredibly expensive measure for Pakistani individuals to support. The continuance of this practice regardless of the costs shows how significant these decorations are.
