Season highlights include:

• the 2026 Sobey Art Award Exhibition,
• Marion Wagschal's National Gallery debut,
• a major Takao Tanabe retrospective, and
• studio photographs from the 19th century to the present  

OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 19, 2026 /CNW/ -- This fall and winter, the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) invites visitors from across Canada and beyond to experience a season filled with discovery, meaningful connections and new perspectives. In Ottawa, major exhibitions and installations will spotlight influential artistic voices, while works from the collection will be showcased in museums and galleries across the country. Families, adults, and communities will have the opportunity to participate in a diverse range of programs that foster creativity, learning, and wellbeing.

"What excites me most about this season is the breadth of artistic voices and experiences it brings together. Guided by the belief that art is our foundation and people are our purpose, we are bringing Canadians closer to art through exhibitions, the collection and partnerships that inspire dialogue, reflection and discovery. Through the visual arts, we hope people will engage with ideas that are thought-provoking and deeply relevant today," said Jean‑François Bélisle, Director and CEO, National Gallery of Canada. 

On view in Ottawa

The season opens September 3 with the public opening of the 2026 Sobey Art Award Exhibition, featuring works by shortlisted artists Melaw Nakehk'o, Samuel Roy-Bois, Audie Murray, Lotus L. Kang, Caroline Monnet and Shane Perley-Dutcher. Organized by the National Gallery of Canada and funded by the Sobey Art Foundation, the exhibition runs until January 3, 2027, and celebrates some of the country's leading contemporary artistic voices.

Opening September 11, Marion Wagschal: Cyclops and Other Tales marks the Montreal artist's first exhibition at the NGC. Spanning six decades of her work, the presentation explores themes of memory, power, gender and human relationships through Wagschal's distinctive figurative practice. The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Canada in partnership with Centre d'art CAB and is on view until January 17, 2027.

On November 27, the Gallery presents Takao Tanabe: Inside Passage, the most comprehensive exhibition in decades devoted to one of Canada's most influential living artists. Organized to mark Tanabe's 100th birthday, the retrospective brings together more than 50 works spanning seven decades. Co-organized with the Audain Art Museum and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the exhibition runs until April 18, 2027.

The season culminates with Sites of Agency: Studio Photography, opening December 11. Drawing on works from the NGC and partner collections, the exhibition examines the photographic studio as a site of creativity, collaboration and self-expression from the nineteenth century to the present. It will be on view until March 21, 2027.

Soon closing and other must sees

Visitors can also experience major exhibitions currently, including Qillaniq, featuring contemporary Indigenous artists from across the circumpolar Arctic (until September 20); Helen McNicoll: An Impressionist Journey, (until October 12); Sylvia Safdie: TERRA (until October 25); and Diego Rivera Meets Henry Moore (until February 28, 2027), and Contact Zones: Gerald McMaster and the Reshaping of Canadian Art History in the NGC's Library and Archives, a focused installation honouring the influential curator's role in advancing Indigenous perspectives and reshaping Canadian art history (until September 27).

Programs that inspire creativity, learning and wellbeing

Beyond its exhibitions, the Gallery offers engaging programs for all ages, from family favourites like Open Studio and Art Bingo to tours, workshops and community initiatives. Programs such as Guided Slow Looking, SPARK! and Art inSight foster creativity, wellbeing and connection through art. The Free Thursday Nights presented by BMO bring music, art-making and light-hearted short tours in a vibrant and social atmosphere.

Beginning in mid-December, visitors will also be able to experience Spaghetti Chorus by Montreal-based art and design studio Daily tous les jours in the iconic Scotiabank Great Hall. The interactive public installation transforms visitors' voices into music and light, encouraging participation, connection and play.

Connecting Canadians through art and community

Through its Gallery's National Engagement initiatives, the Gallery continues to share its collection and expertise with audiences across the country through loans, partnerships and touring projects. Highlights this season include:

• Ai Weiwei: Forever Bicycles, at The Forks, in Winnipeg, Manitoba; 
• Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: The Ship of Tolerance, in collaboration with the Oakville Galleries, at the Gairloch Gardens, Oakville, Ontario, until September 30;
• Joan Jonas: We Come from the Sea, at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, until October 4;
• A co-commissioned work by artist Rouzbeh Akhbari for the 2026 Toronto Biennial of Art, from September 26 to December 20, 2026; and
• Sharon Lockhart: WINDWARD, in the exhibition Fogo at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, from October 24, 2026, to March 21, 2027.

For information on exhibitions, programs and events, visit gallery.ca.

About the National Gallery of Canada

Founded in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada is among the world's most respected art institutions. As a national museum, we exist to serve all Canadians, no matter where they live. We do this by sharing our collection, exhibitions and public programming widely. We create dynamic experiences that allow for new ways of seeing ourselves and each other through the visual arts, while centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Our mandate is to develop, preserve and present a collection for the learning and enjoyment of all—now and for generations to come. We are home to more than 90,000 works, including one of the finest collections of Indigenous and Canadian art, major works from the 14^th to the 21^st century and extensive library and archival holdings. Our dazzling, light-filled building is situated on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation, in Ottawa.

SOURCE National Gallery of Canada