Truck Art Souvenirs and Where to Commission Them

Truck art souvenirs are everyday objects painted in the style of Pakistan's decorated lorries: tin kettles and teapots, trays, plates, lanterns, keychains, model trucks and rickshaws, and painted signs with a name or a line of poetry. You can buy small pieces in craft shops in every big city, and for something made to order you go to the truck painters themselves, most easily in Karachi and Rawalpindi. A government craft shop was selling truck-art keychains for PKR 165 in October 2026, and a painted model truck for PKR 1,500.

This guide covers what to buy, where, how to tell real brushwork from a print, and how to commission a piece. For the history of the art and how to visit a truck workshop, see our guide to Pakistani truck art.

What truck art souvenirs can you buy?

Truck painters have been putting the same flowers, peacocks, eyes, birds and lines of verse on household objects for years, and the range is now huge. In 2020 Arab News reported that one Karachi painter, working from a small room in Saddar with three assistants, offered more than 200 items, including teapots, kettles, trays, pots, keychains, shoes, model buses and rickshaws, suitcases, wooden boxes, lanterns and photo frames. He had just painted 500 kettles as wedding gifts for one client.

Larger pieces exist too. Karachi's Tribal Truck Art, run by Anjum Rana, was reported by Gulf News to paint chairs, tables, plates, mugs, wall hangings, lanterns and frames. Furniture is a shipping job, but a painted stool or small side table is the kind of thing people commission for their own home.

The most practical souvenirs are:

• Painted kettles and teapots. The classic, and sturdy enough to pack.
• Trays and plates. Flat, light and easy to hang on a wall.
• Keychains, magnets and coasters. Cheap gifts for a crowd.
• Model trucks and rickshaws. Children love them; they are fragile at the mirrors and tassels.
• Painted signs. A name plate or a line of poetry in truck-art lettering, made to order.

Where can you buy truck art souvenirs?

Government craft shops. The Punjab government's Pakistan Handicrafts Shop, with branches in Lahore (14-A Davis Road), Islamabad (Rizwan Plaza, Blue Area), Multan and Bahawalpur, sells truck-art keychains and painted model vehicles at fixed prices. Its online listings in October 2026 included a truck-art keychain at PKR 165, a painted truck at PKR 1,500 and a rickshaw at PKR 600. Stock varies by branch.

Craft shops and bazaars. Arab News photographed truck-art household items on sale in Islamabad shops in April 2025, and you will find them in Lahore's Anarkali and the Walled City, Karachi's Saddar and the craft shops of Islamabad's markets. Our guides to souvenirs from Lahore and Karachi souvenirs cover the main shops.

Directly from painters. This is where you get the best work and can ask for something specific. In Karachi, painters work in Saddar, and the artist Haider Ali, who painted a truck for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2002, founded the Phool Patti collective in 2010 and has painted kettles, cushion covers and shoes as well as trucks. In Rawalpindi, the truck yards beyond Raja Bazaar are where the trade is concentrated; the painters there work on trucks first, so ask politely whether anyone will take a small job.

In Peshawar, Dawn reported in 2021 on a truck painter who began painting cups, kettles, plates and vases during the pandemic. The UK government currently advises against all travel to Peshawar, so most travellers will find it easier to buy in Rawalpindi or Islamabad.

How do you tell hand-painted from printed?

A lot of what is sold as truck art is now printed: vinyl stickers on trays, digital prints on mugs and phone covers. They are fine as cheap gifts, but they should be priced as prints.

1. Look for brush strokes. Hand painting shows slight ridges and variation in the line, especially in the white outlines.
2. Run a finger over it. Enamel paint has a little texture. A print is perfectly smooth.
3. Compare two of the same item. Hand-painted pieces are never identical. Printed ones are.
4. Check the edges. A sticker or decal has a visible edge and may lift at the corners.

Treat painted kettles and teapots as decoration. The paint on the outside is not meant for a stove flame, and most people use them as vases or simply on a shelf.

How do you commission a truck art piece?

A commission is a conversation with a working painter, not an online order, so go prepared.

1. Bring a reference. A photo of a design you like, the colours you want, and the exact wording of any name or verse, written out clearly in Urdu or English.
2. Agree the size and the object. If you are bringing your own kettle, tray or board, say so; otherwise ask the painter to supply it.
3. Ask for the price and the time. Get both before work starts, and allow more time before Eid and the wedding season.
4. Pay an advance, not the whole sum, and ask for a photo when it is done if you can't collect it in person.
5. Allow drying time. Enamel paint needs to dry properly before it is wrapped.

Our Raja Bazaar guide helps if you are combining a visit to the Rawalpindi yards with shopping.

How should you pack them?

Metal kettles and trays survive a suitcase well if you wrap them in clothes so the paint isn't scratched. Model trucks and rickshaws need a box, as the mirrors, bells and tassels snap off. Keep a commissioned piece in hand luggage if it is precious.

Are truck art souvenirs worth buying?

Yes. They are cheerful, distinctively Pakistani and cheap, and a hand-painted piece puts money straight into a folk art that is under pressure from digital printing. The small items suit anyone. A commission suits people with a day in Karachi or Rawalpindi and an idea of what they want. If you only have an hour in a mall, buy a keychain or a tray and look elsewhere in our guide to souvenirs from Pakistan. For more to do in the cities, see our experiences page.

Frequently asked questions