W-11: Karachi to Melbourne
Vehicles of transport from camels to trucks have long been celebrated in the Indus valley, in the silk trade route between the east and west. Workshops in Karachi thrive on a busy trade of decorating trucks and buses for their owners with a variety of themes featuring landscapes, animals, movie stars, popular stories and mesmerising patterns. The Karachi minibus route called W11 is almost legendary because of the excessive decoration of its fleet of buses. These buses are characterised by stainless steel panel decorations, florescent sticker collages, brightly coloured plastics and flashing LED light patterns.
Did you know that Karachi had a horse drawn tram system till the 1930’s, and then petrol fuelled, till the 1970’s? Perhaps somewhere there is a W11 tram, a vehicle travelling Pakistan to Australia. How would these Karachi vehicle decorators invoke the spirit of this transport? As part of the cultural festival of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, a team of chamak patti vehicle decorators have transformed a Melbourne tram.
Find about how the project has brought together people in good spirt at W-11"Karachi to Melbourne"
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