Haider Ali (artist)

Ali was born in Karachi, Pakistan to a family originally from Jalandhar in Punjab, British India, which moved to Lahore and Karachi before partition. 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 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 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. ==References==