The National Gallery of Canada unveils its exhibitions and installations for 2026
OTTAWA, ON, Dec. 22, 2025 /CNW/ – The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) today unveiled its exhibition and installation program for 2026, a year marked by the convergence of global modernism and the profound legacy of Indigenous and pioneering artists in Canada.
From its third major international Indigenous art exhibition, this time devoted to artists from the circumpolar Arctic region to a retrospective of the soon-to-be centenarian artist Takao Tanabe, the Gallery is bringing to the forefront the voices of those who have shaped and continue to shape our art history. Highlights of the year include: an exploration of Indigenous women carvers from the Northwest Coast; an encounter between works by Diego Rivera and Henry Moore; and a journey into the luminous Impressionism of Helen McNicoll. In addition to these exciting exhibitions, the Gallery is proud to support Abbas Akhavan who will be representing Canada at the 61st International Art Exhibition–La Biennale di Venezia 2026 and the 23rd edition of the Sobey Art Award exhibition. Together, these exhibitions offer a powerful meditation on resilience, light and the unshakeable human spirit. The 2026 program also highlights the Gallery’s collaborative approach with other art museums across the country, making visual arts accessible to all Canadians, no matter where they live.
Women Carvers on the Northwest Coast
February 13–July 26, 2026
Women Carvers on the Northwest Coast, organized by the Audain Art Museum, celebrates women’s contributions to the Northwest Coast of Canada’s carving tradition. The exhibition features nearly 60 works, including poles, masks, and sculptures, highlighting the roles of women artists from the 1950s to today. Iconic artists such as Ellen Neel, Freda Diesing, and Doreen Jensen provide historical context, while established artists like Susan Point and emerging talents like Marika Echachis Swan showcase the evolving tradition of Indigenous carving in British Columbia.
Diego Rivera Meets Henry Moore
February 27, 2026–February 28, 2027
This installation, the first in a series, features Mexican painter Diego Rivera’s famous Nude with Calla Lilies (1940), generously lent from a private collection. It joins our Reclining Woman (1930) by Henry Moore, then the leading avant-garde sculptor in Britain. Both works take the female nude as their subject with strikingly different results. The two artists reveal new ways of seeing Modernism in a global context–shared obsessions and different ideas about what art was and should be.
Abbas Akhavan represents Canada at the 61st International Art Exhibition–La Biennale di Venezia 2026
May 9–November 22, 2026
Canada Pavilion
Giardini della Biennale, Sestiere Castello, Venice
Abbas Akhavan, who lives between Montreal and Berlin, explores the interplay of place and history through a multidisciplinary approach that includes site-specific installations, drawing, video, sculpture, and performance. Central to his practice is the concept of gardens and by extension domesticated landscapes has been foundational in recent large-scale installations. Akhavan recreates cultural sites affected by international conflicts, revealing the ongoing geopolitics fight for control of narratives.
Helen McNicoll: An Impressionist Journey
May 8–October 12, 2026
Created and organized by the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, adapted by the National Gallery of Canada.
Helen McNicoll: An Impressionist Journey showcases the work of a pioneering Canadian artist known for her luminous depictions of everyday life, nature, and modern womanhood. Celebrated for her mastery of light, McNicoll (1879–1915) significantly contributed to Canadian art, being elected to the prestigious Royal Society of British Artists and Royal Canadian Academy of Arts shortly before her death at 35. The exhibition, adapted for the National Gallery of Canada, features more than 80 works, including paintings and archival materials, that illustrate her nuanced views on work, family life, and women’s independence.
Qillaniq
June 12–September 20, 2026
Qillaniq (an Inuktitut word describing how light from the sun or the moon shimmers brightly when reflecting on water) is co-curated by an all-Indigenous team from the circumpolar Arctic region. The artworks celebrated in this exhibition is multi-vocal, multidisciplinary and improvisational, inspired by Indigenous values of contributing to community in as many ways as possible. Qillaniq is an expression of radical joy, an exploration of what is possible in our communities, of holding space for the people who change our world–outside of the norms of colonizing institutions–a celebration of those that share love as an answer to difficulty.
2026 Sobey Art Award Exhibition
September 4, 2026–January 3, 2027
Organized by the National Gallery of Canada and the Sobey Art Foundation.
In collaboration with the Sobey Art Foundation, the National Gallery of Canada presents works by six Canadian contemporary visual artists from across the country shortlisted for the 2026 Sobey Art Award. Through paintings, drawings, textiles, videos, sculptures, multidisciplinary installations and more, the finalists capture the vitality of artmaking in this country while engaging with subjects pertinent to contemporary identity and experience.
Marion Wagschal
September 11, 2026–January 17, 2027
This exhibition celebrates six decades of Wagschal’s art, emphasizing her emotional depth and sensitivity. The exhibition blurs the lines between biography and fiction, revealing her unique pictorial language that views figurative painting as a means of survival and self-determination. Born in Trinidad and Tobago in 1943 and raised in Montreal, Wagschal’s work reflects her experiences as an immigrant and the daughter of Holocaust survivors. Her narrative-driven paintings focus on the human body, primarily female figures, representing memory and emotion, while exploring themes of life’s fragility and resilience through everyday gestures.
Takao Tanabe: Inside Passage
November 27, 2026–April 18, 2027
June 13–October 19, 2026, at the Audain Art Museum
May 29– October 10, 2027, at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Organized by the NGC, the Audain Art Museum and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
With more than 60 paintings, Inside Passage celebrates Tanabe’s seven-decade contribution to Canadian art, tracing the evolution of his distinctive visual language. This survey highlights the artistic journey of the artist, who turns 100 years old in September 2026. This comprehensive overview showcases Tanabe’s earliest forays into Modernism and abstraction through to his transformative depictions of the prairies, and his defining depictions of British Columbia’s coastal landscapes. Lesser seen productions from the artist’s Emperor series and from his extensive international travels will also be included.
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 14th to the 21st century and extensive library and archival holdings.
Ankosé – Everything is connected – Tout est relié
SOURCE National Gallery of Canada
