Raki Nikahetiya (b. 1983, Kandy, Sri Lanka) works across traditional craft, photography, painting, site-specific installations, and scientific methods, engaging questions of memory, migration and regeneration. Raised in Austria after leaving Sri Lanka during the civil war, and now based in Colombo with a migratory studio spanning Leh, New Delhi, London, and Vienna, his practice reflects a sustained engagement with belonging, adaptation and ecology.
Prior to fully committing to his artistic practice, Nikahetiya worked in journalism before spending over a decade in international development. His work focused on sustainable development, circular economy, and environmental conservation, with roles at the United Nations and later the Zoological Society of London. This experience continues to inform his socially and ecologically engaged approach to making. He later completed a Foundation at the Slade School of Fine Art, where his training grounded a practice defined by process, material inquiry, and experimentation.
He is the director and co-founder of the sā Ladakh Biennale, the world’s highest-altitude regenerative art biennale, fostering site-specific installations and initiatives at the intersection of climate, culture, and community.
Image credit: Rebecca Mansell