Toronto 
Events Description
CONTACT is a Toronto-based festival dedicated to exhibiting, analyzing, and celebrating photography and lens-based media. The Festival provides numerous opportunities to experience a diverse range of exhibitions in neighbourhoods across greater Toronto, and to take in hundreds of events including openings, lectures, artist talks, book reviews, workshops, and more, forging creative connections and sparking engagements.
The 2026 Core Program features curated Exhibitions and Public Art Installations highlighting projects by Canadian and international artists and photographers, developed both independently and in partnership with numerous local and international arts and cultural organizations. In 2026, lens-based and mixed-media works examine subjects including decolonial practices, community-building, migration, looking backwards and looking forward, activism, mourning and loss, personal and collective memory, politics and poetics, and feature explorations in new media as well as a return to early photographic practices and experimentation.
The preliminary list of artists featured across the Core Program includes Ernesto Cabral de Luna, Delali Cofie, Marlene Creates, Larry Fink, Tim Georgeson, Hassan Hajjaj, April Hickox, Risa Horowitz, Spring Hurlbut, Alvin Luong, Arnaud Maggs, Thandiwe Muriu, Lu Pan, Celia Perrin Sidarous, Dawit L. Petros, Yann Pocreau, Jessica Slipp, Sheida Soleimani, Adam Swica, Ho Tam, Sin Wai Kin, Bo Wang, and Ian Wilms.
CONTACT’s Core Program of Exhibitions and Public Art Installations are developed through collaborations with partners across Toronto and beyond, including: Aga Khan Museum; Artexte; Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives; Artspace Gallery; BAND Gallery; Blouin Division; Capture Photography Festival; Daniel Faria Gallery; Towards Gallery; Goethe-Institut Toronto; The Image Centre; John B. Aird Gallery; McMichael Canadian Art Collection; Mercer Union; Onsite Gallery; Pattison Outdoor Advertising; Paul Petro Contemporary Art; Patel Brown; Reel Asian Film Festival; Prefix ICA; Sankofa Square; Stephen Bulger Gallery; Sur Gallery; United Contemporary, among others. Complete programming details will be announced in April.
Who is it for?
All ages
HOW MUCH
Tickets : Free
Free
How to get tickets?
At the door: At the door. Free.
WHEN & WHERE
Date: Friday May 1, 2026 to Sunday May 31, 2026
Selected 2026 CONTACT Photography Festival exhibitions and public art projects
Sin Wai Kin | ESSENCE
CONTACT Gallery, 80 Spadina Ave, Suite 205 | May 1 – June 15
Sankofa Square | May 1 – 31
Billboards at College St & Delaware St | April 27 – May 24
Curated by Kelly Lui
Alvin Luong | DEPHINITELY PARADISE
Mercer Union, 1286 Bloor St West
February 13 – May 9
Curated by Theresa Wang
Bo Wang & Lu Pan | Replicas of Contact
Billboards at Lansdowne Ave & Dundas St W/College St
April 27 – May 24
Curated by Su-Ying Lee
Sheida Soleimani | Ghostwriter
Billboards on Clark Dr, Vancouver
March 21 – May 31
Billboards on Dundas St W and Rusholme Rd
April 27 – May 24
Curated by Emmy Lee Wall
Delali Cofie | A Place of Ours
United Contemporary, 129 Tecumseth St
May 7 – June 13
Billboard at Queen St & Augusta Ave
April 27 – May 24
Curated by Emilie Croning
Spring Hurlbut, Arnaud Maggs
Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1356 Dundas St W
May 9 – June 27
April Hickox | Vantage Point–Passing
Onsite Gallery, 199 Richmond St W (exterior windows)
May 1 – August 29
Curated by Meera Margaret Singh and Ursula Handleigh
Yann Pocreau I Archipelago
King Edward Canada Line Station, Vancouver
April 1 – August 31
Capture Photography Festival
Curated by CONTACT Photography Festival
Special Projects & Initiatives
PICTURE THIS: CONTACT Photography Festival Fundraiser – February 24, 6 – 10pm at Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto
The CONTACT Photobook Fair – May 2, 11am – 6pm at Stephen Bulger Gallery
Venue & Address
Various locations, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Wheelchair accessible
Accessible by Public Transport
