Misan Harriman has announced he will step down from his role as chair of London’s Southbank Centre after serving two terms.
The photographer and Oscar-nominated filmmaker became the subject of public attention after media outlets accused him of antisemitism after social media posts he made following the Golders Green attack in North London in April. In the post he alleged that the first, Muslim victim of the attack had been overlooked in reporting over the event compared to the two Jewish victims. Harriman has previously rejected the suggestions that his social media posts were antisemitic.
Numerous cultural figures rallied to his defence, arguing that the Telegraph, The Times, the MailOnline and the Daily Express were running an orchestrated smear campaign. More than 30,000 people have signed an online petition supporting him, including the musicians Billy Bragg, Brian Eno, and Riz Ahmed. The UK’s Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) said that the coverage “may raise a breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice” and have given the newspapers 28 days to resolve the matter with Harriman before it is escalated to an Ipso complaints officer, Novara Media reports.
In an Instagram video post on Tuesday (23 June), Harriman dismissed the ideas that his departure was related to the public fracas. He said: “It’s semi-public knowledge that my term is coming to an end anyway… I had decided way before this madness that I was going to do two terms. It takes a long time to find whoever the next chair will be, and that process will begin at some point, and I’ll update you more on exact dates and timelines probably in autumn.”
Harriman declined to comment further when approached by The Art Newspaper but pointed to an articles in the publication The New World, published on 19 May, that corroborates his decision to step down as pre-planned. A spokesperson for the Southbank said: “Misan confirmed with the deputy chair in January that he would not be seeking a third term and would step down in the autumn of 2026. Succession planning is already underway, with further details to be confirmed following our AGM in July.”
Harriman, a British-Nigerian, is one of the most prominent black cultural figures working in the UK today. He became well-known for his photographs documenting the Black Lives Matters protests and subsequently the Palestine solidarity marches, some of which are currently on show in London at Hope 93.
