Misan Harriman to Step Down as Southbank Centre Chair After Two Terms
Misan Harriman will leave his post as chair of London’s Southbank Centre after completing two terms, with the institution saying succession planning is already in motion. The British-Nigerian photographer and Oscar-nominated filmmaker said the departure had been planned long before the recent public dispute over his social media posts.
Harriman, one of the most visible Black cultural figures working in the UK, said he had intended from the outset to serve only two terms. Speaking on Tuesday, June 23, he described the timing as part of a longer transition process and said he would share more precise dates in the autumn. A Southbank Centre spokesperson said Harriman told the deputy chair in January that he would not seek a third term and would step down in autumn 2026, with further details to follow after the AGM in July.
The announcement comes after Harriman faced accusations of antisemitism over posts he made following the Golders Green attack in North London in April. In those posts, he argued that the first Muslim victim of the attack had been overlooked in reporting compared with the two Jewish victims. Harriman has rejected claims that the posts were antisemitic.
The dispute drew a broad public response. More than 30,000 people signed an online petition backing him, including musicians Billy Bragg, Brian Eno, and Riz Ahmed. The Independent Press Standards Organisation said the coverage “may raise a breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice” and gave the newspapers 28 days to resolve the matter with Harriman before the issue could be escalated.
Harriman’s profile in British cultural life has grown through his photographs of the Black Lives Matter protests and, more recently, the Palestine solidarity marches. Some of that work is currently on view in London at Hope 93. His departure closes a turbulent chapter for the Southbank Centre, but the institution’s next leadership transition is already taking shape.
