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Truck Art in Pakistan

Classic Bedford "Rocket" trucks in a flooded section of Peshawar. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

While trucks are also decorated in India and Bangladesh, and in several other Asian and South American countries, truck art has developed to an unparalleled degree in Pakistan and southern Afghanistan. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Truck owners will spend thousands of dollars decorating their trucks, the equivalent of up to a year’s worth of profit from the vehicle. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Truck art is influenced by older traditions. This color scheme is linked to Sufi mysticism. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Sufi mystics believe the brightest colors are the purest. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Even the smallest details are painted on the trucks. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Natural themes, such as roses, figure frequently on trucks. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Pakistan truck art. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Pakistan truck art. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Pakistan truck art. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Pakistan truck art. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Pakistan truck art. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Pakistan truck art. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Amid the trash-filled streets, bleak concrete-block storefronts, and grimy open-air workshops, Pakistan’s decorated trucks stand out in their colorful and vibrantly ornate aesthetics. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Passenger buses, like this old hulk in Karachi, are also decorated. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

More modern styles are sometimes seen. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

The rear panel, which is often decorated with a large portrait, is a particularly interesting place to observe cultural trends. Image by Matthieu Aikins. Pakistan 2013.

Amid the trash-filled streets, bleak concrete-block storefronts, and grimy open-air workshops, Pakistan’s decorated trucks stand out in their colorful and vibrantly ornate aesthetics. A typical truck might be festooned with dozens of stamped metal plates, lavishly painted panels detailing birds, saints, and landscapes, a high wooden prow of carved wood, and a long skirt of hundreds of chains with bells on their ends, which give the vehicles their common English moniker, "jingle trucks."