Haider Ali is a Pakistani painter best known for his work as a truck artist. Around the world, he has painted murals, structures, benches, and trucks in the distinctive
truck art style of Pakistan. He first gained international attention in 2002 when he worked on the first authentic Pakistani truck in North America for the Smithsonian and has since exhibited at museums and institutions globally.
Early life and education
Ali was born in Karachi, Pakistan to a family originally from
Jalandhar
Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...
in Punjab, which moved to Lahore and Karachi before
partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
.
[ Ali received rigorous training in truck art as a child apprentice.][ He was trained from the age of eight by his truck artist father, Muhammad Sardar, who insisted on an ability to draw straight vertical and horizontal lines.][ By age 16, he had painted his first truck under master supervision.][
He taught at the ]Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture
Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture () ( sd, انڊس ويلي اسڪول آف آرٽ اينڊ آرڪيٽيڪچر) is a not-for-profit degree awarding institution in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The university was established in 1989, ther ...
as a visiting faculty member.[
]
Method and style
On most projects, Ali blends his own set of visual vocabulary with imagery and motifs suggested by the client. In his Karachi workshop, he paints in the open air and sketches his ideas on the ground.[ If necessary, he has painted scenes that he has never personally seen, a task he enjoys.][ Ali will paint portraits of famous Pakistani political and cultural figures, which often appear on the rear of trucks.][ Upon request, he paints truck owner's children, a task he finds more challenging as the clients closely scrutinize the work.][ Ali appreciates the sentimental quality of truck art and believes that love is at the core of the art.][ According to Ali, truck art is to Pakistan what Bollywood is to India.][
]
Notable works
As part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...
in 2002, Ali painted a Bedford truck in Washington, DC. Jamal Uddin, another Pakistani artist, completed the body and metal work while Haider handled the painting.[ It is the only complete and authentic recreation of a Pakistani truck in North America and is noteworthy for conveying the totality of truck art, not reducing it to painting, metalwork, or other elements that are prized by elite art audiences.][
In 2011, Ali also painted a truck in Luton, United Kingdom for a special Truck Art exhibition at the ]Stockwood Discovery Centre
Stockwood Discovery Centre, formerly known as Stockwood Craft Museum, is one of two free admission museums situated in Luton (the other is Wardown Park Museum). The museums in Luton are a part of a charitable trust, Luton Culture.
The discovery ...
.[ Now part of the center's transport collection, the truck is only one of its kind in the U.K., and possibly Europe.][ Initiated as part of the festivities for ]London 2012
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, the project celebrated ties between Luton and Pakistan, as Bedford trucks manufactured in Luton in the 1950s are still used in Pakistan.[ Ali collaborated with 20 artists including Rory Coxhill, a British Gypsy artisan and folk wagon artist who apprenticed for eight weeks in Pakistan as part of the project.][
In 2013, Ali visited ]Kolkata, India
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
and decorated a truck as part of the city's Durga Puja
Durga Puja ( bn, দুর্গা পূজা), also known as Durgotsava or Sharodotsava, is an annual Hindu festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which reveres and pays homage to the Hindu goddess Durga and is also celebrated ...
annual celebrations in honor of the goddess Durga
Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars.
Durga's legend centres around co ...
.[ With the help of two assistants, Ali painted a ]pandal
A ''pandal'' in India and neighbouring countries, is a fabricated structure, either temporary or permanent, that is used at many places such as either outside a building or in an open area such as along a public road or in front of a house. This ca ...
, or one of the colorful religious structures used for the event. The pandal structure was designed to give visitors the feeling of standing in the cargo hold of a truck while the head of the truck, or taj, was used to hold the representations of the goddess.[ The installation was accompanied by a truck art exhibition introducing visitors to the art.][ Ali understood his participation as supporting India - Pakistan coexistence and friendship.][
In 2014, as part of a fellowship at the ]USC Pacific Asia Museum
USC Pacific Asia Museum is an Asian art museum located at 46 N. Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California, United States.
The museum was founded in 1971 by the Pacificulture Foundation, which purchased "The Grace Nicholson Treasure House of Orienta ...
, Ali painted a van as a gift to the university for their patronage.[ Ali included California references including the bear from the state of California flag bear, the Hollywood sign, a bald eagle, and ocean sunsets.][ His work was shown as part of the museum's exhibit, "From the Grand Trunk Road to Route 66," which linked the culture of travel in the US and Pakistan and the explosion of vehicular-related art in the 1950s.][
Ali and his team painted a mural on the wall of the ]Karachi Press Club
The Karachi Press Club (KPC @pressclubkhi) ( ur, ) is an organization of the community of the journalists. It also takes account of academics, business people and people from the public service. Karachi Press Club was the first press club that w ...
which features notable Pakistani women including Yasmeen Lari
Yasmeen Lari (born 1941; ur, ) is Pakistan's first female architect. She is best known for her involvement in the intersection of architecture and social justice. Since her official retirement from architectural practice in 2000, her UN-recog ...
, Pakistan's first female architect and prominent activist Sabeen Mahmud
Sabeen Mahmud (20 June 1974 – 24 April 2015) ( ur, ) was a progressive Pakistani human rights activist and social worker who founded the Karachi-based cafe '' The Second Floor''. She also presided over the Karachi branch of TiE.
Born and rai ...
.[ The work was commissioned as part of the I am Karachi campaign. It was the subject of local protests while it was being painted][ and later became a target of vandalism and graffiti. Ali restored the mural in 2017.][
Ali has also drawn the mural of the man allegedly killed by police officers, in racial terrorism, ]George Floyd
George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...
in Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
, Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Haider
Living people
Artists from Karachi
Artists from Sindh
20th-century Pakistani painters
21st-century Pakistani painters
Truck art in Pakistan
Year of birth missing (living people)