Introduction
India’s traditional arts carry stories of communities, landscapes and generations of knowledge. KATHAA was created to take these stories beyond their familiar settings and into new cultural landscapes.
Since 2020, KATHAA has brought the stories of India’s folk and tribal art traditions to Hong Kong through murals, exhibitions and cultural exchange.
Over five editions, the festival has connected artists and audiences across borders, creating a living platform for India’s diverse artistic traditions.
In this article, we explore how KATHAA came to life, the impact it created in Hong Kong, and how the model can open new possibilities for cultural exchange in Japan.
The idea
How do you take India’s traditional arts beyond galleries and exhibitions, and place them in the everyday visual landscape of another city?
For MeMeraki, the answer became an annual cultural exchange that brought Indian folk and tribal artists into the streets of Hong Kong.
Since its first edition in 2020, KATHAA has created opportunities for traditional Indian artists to work across borders, collaborate with local creative communities and introduce regional art traditions to new audiences.
What began as a festival built around murals grew into a larger cultural exchange, connecting artists, communities, institutions and audiences through the visual language of India.
Over five editions, KATHAA has featured art forms including Warli, Pattachitra, Gond, Madhubani, Kerala Mural, Kalamkari, Cheriyal, Phad, Bhil, Lippan Kaam, Bengal Pattachitra, Mandana, Pichwai, Mata-ni-Pachedi, Kashmiri art, Kantha and Kalighat.
The project demonstrates how traditional art can travel without losing its cultural context.
The challenge: Taking traditional art across borders
India’s folk and tribal art traditions are deeply rooted in particular communities, regions, materials and ways of life.
Taking these practices into an international setting requires more than simply displaying artworks. The cultural context needs to travel with the art.
For KATHAA, the challenge was to create a format that allowed Indian artists to be seen, understood and experienced by a wider audience while giving local communities an active role in the process.
Hong Kong became the first international setting for this experiment.
The city’s strong street-art culture and diverse creative community offered a natural environment for large-scale murals, while the Indian community provided an important cultural bridge.
The result was a festival that moved traditional Indian art from the canvas to the city wall.
KATHAA 2020: Beginning with community
The first edition of KATHAA was presented by MeMeraki and HKWalls, with the support of the Consulate General of India, Hong Kong, and sponsorship from Mrs. Purvez B. Shroff and the late Mr. Rusty M. Shroff.
Four Indian artists representing four distinct traditions participated:
- Anil Wangad, Warli
- Apindra Swain, Pattachitra
- Venkat Shyam, Gond
- Ranjeet Jha, Madhubani
The artists created exterior murals at locations including Teakha, Treehouse, Gunpowder and Bharat Bhawan, the official residence of the Indian Consul-General.
The festival also included an exhibition and workshops, creating opportunities for audiences to encounter the artists and their practices beyond the murals.
Community participation became one of the defining elements of KATHAA.
Hundreds of people from the Indian community joined the artists in painting the murals, while more than 250 people attended the launch, exhibitions and workshops during the festival week.
The first edition established the central idea behind KATHAA: traditional art becomes even more powerful when people can experience it collectively.
KATHAA 2021: Adapting through collaboration
The second edition arrived during a very different world.
With international travel still restricted by the Covid-19 pandemic, KATHAA adapted its format rather than putting the exchange on hold.
The Indian artists created the artworks in India, while teams of Hong Kong-based artists translated them onto walls across the city in collaboration with the artists.
The participating Indian artists represented Kerala Mural, Miniature Art, Kalamkari and Cheriyal Scroll traditions. Hong Kong artists including Aaron Tse, Ahmad Rida Nisar, Ruby Law and Shweta Rastogi brought the designs to life locally.
Four murals were created across Hong Kong, including works at Rich View Terrace, Sai Street, Heung Yip Sitting Out Area and Hollywood Road.
The edition also included an exhibition at the Consulate General of India and a series of videos documenting the artists and their relationship with their art.
KATHAA 2021 demonstrated that cultural exchange does not always require physical proximity.
It can also happen through collaboration, interpretation and shared authorship.
KATHAA 2022: Bringing artists back to the walls
With fewer pandemic restrictions, KATHAA returned to a more direct form of cultural exchange.
The 2022 edition brought four Indian master artists to Hong Kong:
- Bhuri Bai, Bhil art
- Kalyan Joshi, Phad art
- Mitha Bhai, Lippan Kaam
- Manoranjan Chitrakar, Bengal Pattachitra
The artists created murals across Hong Kong under the theme Lifestyle for the Environment, connecting traditional visual languages with contemporary conversations around nature, sustainability and our relationship with the environment.
Each mural offered a different interpretation.
- The Bengal Pattachitra mural explored the relationship between nature and human life through the symbolism of a single leaf.
- The Bhil mural reflected on forest life.
- The Phad mural depicted the tree of life and natural habitats while exploring the impact of pollution and waste.
- The Lippan Kaam mural brought the artist’s distinctive visual language into a large-scale urban setting.
The result was a meeting point between heritage and contemporary public art.
KATHAA 2023: Expanding the visual vocabulary
The fourth edition continued KATHAA’s exploration of India’s regional art traditions.
Artists Riyaz Ahmed Khan, Sanjay Chittara, Dinesh Soni and Vidya Soni brought their practices to Hong Kong through live mural painting and an exhibition.
The edition was presented by HKWalls and MeMeraki, with Hysan as festival partner and the support of the Consulate General of India, Hong Kong.
The murals and exhibition once again created a platform for audiences to encounter traditional Indian art forms in an international contemporary setting.
Across its editions, KATHAA was steadily building something larger than a festival.
It was building familiarity.
Every mural introduced another regional tradition. Every collaboration created another point of cultural connection. Every edition expanded the vocabulary through which audiences could encounter Indian art.
KATHAA 2025: Continuing the exchange
The fifth edition took place in March 2025 at Urban Sky, Hysan Place.
Artists Mahamaya Sikdar and Sonali Chitrakar represented Kantha and Kalighat traditions, bringing two distinctive Bengal art practices into the KATHAA format.
The edition was presented by MeMeraki and South Asian Arts Academy, with Hysan as festival partner and sponsorship from Mrs. Purvez B. Shroff and the late Mr. Rusty M. Shroff.
By this stage, KATHAA had developed a recognisable model.
- Indian artists.
- Traditional art practices.
- International public spaces.
- Local creative participation.
- Community engagement.
- And cultural institutions that help create the bridge between them.
What KATHAA created
Over five editions, KATHAA has created more than individual murals.
A platform for traditional artists
Artists working within deeply rooted Indian traditions gained an international platform to present their practices to new audiences.
A living cultural exchange
The festival placed artists and their traditions within a contemporary city, allowing cultural exchange to happen through participation rather than passive viewing.
Community participation
From hundreds of community members painting alongside artists to local artists collaborating with Indian practitioners, audiences became participants in the cultural process.
A new context for Indian folk art
KATHAA showed that traditional Indian art can exist comfortably within contemporary urban environments.
- A Warli painting can occupy a Hong Kong wall.
- A Pattachitra narrative can become a large-scale public artwork.
- Lippan Kaam can move from its traditional context into a contemporary cityscape.
The setting changes. The story continues.
From Hong Kong to Japan
KATHAA’s success in Hong Kong has also opened a larger question for MeMeraki: where can this model travel next?
Japan presents a particularly relevant opportunity.
There is a strong cultural appreciation for craftsmanship, materiality, heritage and storytelling. Indian traditional art forms such as Gond, Sohrai and Madhubani also offer rich possibilities for cultural and creative exchange within this context.
The proposed Japanese edition would build on the KATHAA model while adapting it to a new cultural landscape.
The initial proposal includes two curated murals and an exhibition featuring the work of two Indian artists, creating a public-facing platform for Indian traditional art in Japan.
The opportunity is not simply to recreate Hong Kong in another country.
It is to take what worked, understand the cultural context of Japan and create a new conversation between Indian and Japanese traditions.
Why KATHAA matters
Traditional art survives through practice, but it grows through visibility, participation and exchange.
KATHAA creates all three.
It gives artists a new physical space to work in. It allows audiences to encounter traditions outside their usual cultural context. It encourages local creative communities to participate. And it creates lasting public artworks that remain part of the city after the festival ends.
For MeMeraki, this is at the heart of cultural exchange. The aim is not simply to take Indian art around the world. It is to create spaces where Indian stories can meet new audiences, new artists and new places. Stories from India can travel far.
KATHAA is one way of helping them find new walls, new audiences and new conversations.
