WBEZ 91.5 Chicago
Published on WBEZ 91.5 Chicago (http://www.wbez.org)
Source URL: http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/2011-10-31/pakistani-art-truck-decoration-93635


The Pakistani art of truck decoration

Produced by World Vision Report

October 31, 2011

In Pakistan, shipping is big business. New paved highways offer a fast track to the north and Afghanistan. Goods arrive at the port of Karachi and travel as far as U.S. troops based in Afghanistan or newly rich Central-Asian republics farther north. As the shipping industry grows, trucking becomes an important part of the country’s economic engine. But Pakistani cargo shipping trucks – decorated with bright colors, lines from Urdu poetry, and life sized paintings of politicians – look nothing like trucks you see on American highways. The World Vision Report’s Jessica Partnow takes us to Karachi, the heart of Pakistan’s one-of-a-kind truck decorating business.