Harkawik was founded by curator and artist Peter Harkawik. Harkawik organized his first exhibition, focused on the late New Zealand filmmaker Darcy Lange, in 2009. He went on to create a series of well-regarded surveys, including Touchy Feely (2011), Made in Space (2013), and Walk Artisanal (2016), before establishing his first permanent location in Mid City, Los Angeles, in 2018.