iRoyal Ontario MuseumYorkville / Queen's Park
Psychedelics: Art. Culture. Science.
A research-driven look at the cultural, historical and scientific significance of psychedelics through artworks, objects, botanical specimens and interactives.
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A 1967 Toronto Star photo of a woman mid-trip, slouched on a couch, has been cut into the accordion folds of a long lenticular panel, so her face never comes into focus. "I'm not sure if I want to be that woman on the couch," the curator, Justin Jennings, told the Globe and Mail.
Ninety objects move in stages: how psilocybin, LSD, mescaline and DMT act on the brain, the fungi and toads that make them, ancient Maya ceramics, Huichol yarn paintings, then 1960s concert posters and a 1970s anti-drug film. Midway you step into a room where a central pillar throws pulsing geometric patterns and intense colour, the show's version of what the drugs do to your eyes.
The Globe's Kate Taylor said the ROM did it "very carefully", warning label included, and Jennings recalls notes from management that it was "too much fun, not fun enough." The ROM recommends it for adults and students. It's on Level 4, general admission plus a $9 surcharge (free for Members).
Editor's pick
A 1967 Toronto Star photo of a woman mid-trip is cut into a lenticular panel so her face never comes into focus. Ninety objects run from Maya ceramics to Hendrix posters; the Globe says the ROM did it "very carefully".
Look for
Martin Sharp's Jimi Hendrix poster
Look for the 1967 poster in the 1960s section where Hendrix explodes into bursts of colour.
José Benítez Sánchez's yarn painting
A 1975 Huichol yarn painting that tells the Huichol creation story, with Mother Peyote in it.
The Maya lord and the water deity
A ceramic vessel, 1,200 to 1,400 years old, shows a Maya lord communicating with a deity of the watery deeps.
Huxley's letter to Osmond
A reproduction of Aldous Huxley's 1956 letter to the Saskatchewan psychiatrist Humphry Osmond, the two of them trying out names for the drugs.
Ego Death Trip
Annie MacDonell's 2023 lenticular panel hides a slouched woman's face in the accordion folds of a long horizontal panel.
Good for
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
Skip if
You want a party: the Globe found the ROM made this show very carefully, warning label included.
With kids
The ROM recommends this show for adults, students and seniors rather than children.
Also at Royal Ontario Museum
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
9
- Psychedelics: Art. Culture. Science.Courtesy of Royal Ontario Museum
- Magnus Hara: The Light of DayCourtesy of Gardiner Museum
- In Search of Imperfection: The Macdonald Collection of Japanese and Japanese-Inspired CeramicsCourtesy of Gardiner Museum
- After the Island: Caribbean Canadian CeramicsCourtesy of Gardiner Museum
- Royal Ontario MuseumMaksim Sokolov (Maxergon), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Gardiner Museumremundo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Art Museum at the University of TorontoUnderline Studio, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Bata Shoe MuseumCanmenwalker / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- Art Gallery of OntarioOwen Byrne / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0