Isobel Harbison

Dr Isobel Harbison is a Senior Lecturer in Critical Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, specializing in contemporary performance and moving image art. She holds a PhD in Art Theory (2015) and an MFA in Curating (2008) from Goldsmiths, along with a BA in History of Art and Architecture from Trinity College Dublin (2004).

Research Focus: Her work interrogates the intersection of images, media, and politics, with particular attention to feminist and anti-racist art histories. She explores how performance art and moving image challenge corporate media structures and technology capitalism, as detailed in her monograph Performing Image (MIT Press, 2019).

Projects: She leads the 2025-2026 Recording History initiative with the Irish Museum of Modern Art, focusing on independent film in Northern Ireland (1968-1990). This project, funded by the Shared Island Fund, will result in an oral history archive at PRONI.

• Awards:
  • 2024 Eadington Fellow, UNLV
  • 2024 Eccles Fellow, British Library
  • 2019 Rauschenberg Foundation Resident
  • 2014 Arts Foundation Fellow
• Curatorial Work:
  • Guest curator, Tate Modern (2025)
  • Exhibition projects at Royal Hibernian Academy, Ulster Museum

Writing: Regularly contributes to Frieze, Art Monthly, and Financial Times. Her work has been shortlisted for the Hay Festival Writers' Award (2024) and nominated for the Pushcart Prize.