Konnichiwa, India: Can Hello Kitty assimilate into the subcontinent’s diverse art aesthetic?

The colonial bungalow on Delhi’s Barakhamba Road had been given a red-white-pink makeover: a giant plushie bow adorned one corner of the facade, while pink-red plushie apples and hearts dangled everywhere inside. The star of the show was a white feline figure wearing a red bow.

It was all very “kawaii” – an especially apt term for a Hello Kitty exhibit. The Japanese word means a combination of cute, tiny and adorable and has long been used in Japan to describe the iconic cat.

The exhibition by Indian fashion label Péro celebrated the fact that it had been 50 years since Hello Kitty made its first appearance – and was finally making its official entry into India. Featuring Péro’s designer clothing collection on life-size dolls and Hello Kitty-themed installations, the exhibition – which ran from October 19 to October 30 – quickly drew the attention of teenagers and young women.

Hello Kitty’s India foray, like the popularity of K Pop in in subcontinent, is a sign of strengthening cultural flows between Asian countries – and a shift away from west-to-east cultural flows that have long held sway over.

Around the world, Hello Kitty has taken on an artistic and creative life of her own: she has featured on...

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