Niki Kohandel


(b. 2000, FR) is a visual artist, filmmaker and educator based in London. Her practice is nourished by intergenerational transmissions, Farsi oral traditions and engagement with broader sonic histories. She employs film, sound, printmaking and expanded drawing processes, working in collaboration with family members, friends and young people to re-write personal and collective mythologies. 
Her practice sits in a variety of contexts beyond galleries and film spaces, including schools, radio waves and community centres. Since 2021, she has been working with Shahre Farang, facilitating both regular and one-off workshops in bridging hotels. The collective supports children and young people who have newly arrived in the UK through multi-disciplinary story-telling sessions.

Her work has been presented in a solo exhibition at LUX Moving Image, London (2025) and in group shows at Dar Bellarj, Marrakech; Bow Arts (2026); Cubitt Gallery, London (2025); Metroland Studios, London (2024); Greatorex Street Gallery, London; Projet Casa, Tioh- tià:ke/Montreal (2023); The Toy Museum, London (2022); Octagon Gallery, London; Noorderlicht Photo, Groeningen; Gulf Photo Plus, Dubaï (2021); Lethaby Gallery, London (2019). 

Her films have been screened extensively in the UK and abroad in festivals, galleries and film spaces in- cluding: Millenium Film Workshop, New York (2026); Swedenborg Film Festival, London; LE18, Marrakech (2025); Harkat, Mumbai; Art Station, Samarakand; Lago Film Festival, Revine Lago; Open City Docu mentary Festival, London; Kunsthal, Ghent; Experimenta India, Bangalore; University of Kent, Canter- bury (2024); BFI Film Festival, London; Kulturbunker, Köln-Mülheim; Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield; not/ nowhere, London; Sinematek, Istanbul; Vienna Shorts, Vienna; Bloomsbury Theatre, London; Flying Broom Festival, Ankara; Porto Femme International Film Festival, Porto; 35th International Short Film Festival, Dresden; The Nordic House, Reykjavik; Barbican Cinema, London; From Rosa to Simone Film Festival, Tbilissi; Anthology Film Archives, New York; ICA, London; Cine Humberto Mauro Mais, Belo Hori- zonte (2023); SOAS University, London; London Migration Film Festival, London; DOCUMENTARIST, Istan- bul; London Short Film Festival, London (2022); Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York; Museum of Modern Art, New York (2021).

In 2025, she was part of videoclub/FLAMIN’s Selected 15, a touring programme of new artist’s film and video nominated by the 2024 Jarman Award shortlist. She is the recipient of several prizes including the EastEast Film Award (2024); Rosa Morison Memorial Award (2023); Prankerd Jones Scholarship; Herbert Seaborn Award (2022); Sue Jamieson Memorial Award (2021).
She holds a BA from the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London.


For vimeo links, screenings and other inquiries please email.

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NIKI KOHANDEL 

(b. 2000, FR) is a visual artist, filmmaker and educator based in London. Her practice is nourished by intergenerational transmissions, Farsi oral traditions and engagement with broader sonic histories. She employs film, sound, printmaking and expanded drawing processes, working in collaboration with family members, friends and young people to re-write personal and collective mythologies.

Her work has been presented in a solo exhibition at LUX Moving Image, London (2025) and in group shows at Dar Bellarj, Marrakech; Bow Arts (2026); Cubitt Gallery, London (2025); Metroland Studios, London (2024); Greatorex Street Gallery, London; Projet Casa, Tioh- tià:ke/Montreal (2023); The Toy Museum, London (2022); Octagon Gallery, London; Noorderlicht Photo, Groeningen; Gulf Photo Plus, Dubaï (2021); Lethaby Gallery, London (2019). 

Her films have been screened extensively in the UK and abroad in festivals, galleries and film spaces in- cluding: Millenium Film Workshop, New York (2026); Swedenborg Film Festival, London; LE18, Marrakech (2025); Harkat, Mumbai; Art Station, Samarakand; Lago Film Festival, Revine Lago; Open City Docu- mentary Festival, London; Kunsthal, Ghent; Experimenta India, Bangalore; University of Kent, Canter- bury (2024); BFI Film Festival, London; Kulturbunker, Köln-Mülheim; Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield; not/ nowhere, London; Sinematek, Istanbul; Vienna Shorts, Vienna; Bloomsbury Theatre, London; Flying Broom Festival, Ankara; Porto Femme International Film Festival, Porto; 35th International Short Film Festival, Dresden; The Nordic House, Reykjavik; Barbican Cinema, London; From Rosa to Simone Film Festival, Tbilissi; Anthology Film Archives, New York; ICA, London; Cine Humberto Mauro Mais, Belo Hori- zonte (2023); SOAS University, London; London Migration Film Festival, London; DOCUMENTARIST, Istan- bul; London Short Film Festival, London (2022); Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York; Museum of Modern Art, New York (2021).

In 2025, she was part of videoclub/FLAMIN’s Selected 15, a touring programme of new artist’s film and video nominated by the 2024 Jarman Award shortlist. She is the recipient of several prizes including the EastEast Film Award (2024); Rosa Morison Memorial Award (2023); Prankerd Jones Scholarship; Herbert Seaborn Award (2022); Sue Jamieson Memorial Award (2021). She holds a BA from the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London.


For vimeo links and screening inquiries please email.
For Shahr-e-Farang
please email shahrefarang.project@gmail.com

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...- then love is the name
2022, 7’ - 16mm & Hi8 film, silent. 

A reflection on education and an ode to the bonds that are formed by students at, (and in spite of,) the institution they are studying within. By weaving together footage from the 2021 anti-racist occupation of the Slade School of Fine Art with scenes from the install of the art school’s class of 2020 degree show, the academy emerges as a site of frustration as much as of achievement. Running over both events - , from the final touches of varnish being put on a painting to protest banners being unfurled across the building, - is text from former Slade student and tutor Christine Kirubi’s poem ‘… - then love is the name’ from which Kohandel’s film takes its name. (Open City Docs)




Past screenings:

17th August 2024, Art Station Samarkand, ‘Janub Shamoli Festival’ by maqaal collective, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

8th Feb 2024, ‘Artists in Residence: Work, Play and Protest’ at Barbican Centre.

12th Sept 2022, Open City Documentary Festival
‘Sab Changa Si + ...- then love is the name + QA with Teresa A Braggs & Shai Heredia ’ at Genesis Cinema, London. Accompanied by ‘Beyond Romances of the Negative’, text by Siavash Minoukadeh.