Toronto

Psychedelics at the ROM

A guide to the Royal Ontario Museum’s exhibition Psychedelics: Art. Culture. Science.

6 June 2026 – 3 January 2027

On Level 4

The show runs in the Roloff Beny Gallery, four weeks longer than first announced. The ROM says it brings together 90 objects.

Six questions

It is built around six questions, from “What are psychedelics?” to “What are our psychedelic futures?”, and starts with four classic psychedelics.

From the Maya to the Huichol

Named objects include a Maya vessel showing a seated lord, a Huichol offering gourd and José Benítez Sánchez’s 1975 yarn painting.

The psychedelic era

1960s rock posters, such as Martin Sharp’s 1967 Explosion, Jimi Hendrix, sit beside newer works inspired by the period.

Canadian threads

It shows a reproduction of Aldous Huxley’s 1956 letter to Humphry Osmond, who coined “psychedelic”. CAMH lent trays from its archives.

The full guide

Educational, by design

The ROM says it does not recommend or encourage psychedelic use. Our guide links every object and date to its source.

Educational only. Pictures are Shroomverse AI illustrations and film stills.