Psychedelics

After decades at the margins, psychedelics are seemingly everywhere. Research programs are up and running at major universities, from Johns Hopkins to the University of Calgary. News stories hailing MDMA miracle cures are building hype, while others warning of drug-induced psychotic breaks are stoking fear. Plus, in downtown Toronto, it seems impossible to walk more than a few blocks without passing a store like Shroomyz hawking magic mushrooms. 

With the recent resurgence of these powerful drugs come some big questions. Why do people use psychedelics? What does the science say about these drugs? And how should we respond as a society? 

Enter Psychedelics: Art. Culture. Science., a ROM-original exhibition that uses artworks, psychedelic specimens, digital interactives, and the latest scientific research to make sense of a topic that has long been too taboo to tackle. 

Within the exhibition, visitors will of course encounter the hippie movement, including a striking psychedelic poster of Jimi Hendrix from the Museum’s collections. But the exhibition goes far beyond the 1960s—moving from the ancient practices of the Maya to the present-day psychedelic rituals of Bwèté practitioners in Gabon. Through the cultural belongings of groups around the world and across the ages, visitors will learn how psychedelics are used to awaken consciousness, commune with ancestors, connect to the divine, resist authority, and heal. 

While drawing on extensive cultural knowledge, the exhibition also traces the history of psychedelic research, from early work in Canada to contemporary clinical trials across the world. And though Psychedelics acknowledges the potential benefits of these powerful drugs, it is just as clear eyed about their many risks. 

Psychedelics also delves into where these hallucinogenic plants, fungi, and animals come from and how they evolved. Visitors can expect to encounter an array of objects from the natural world, including a 3D model of the Sonoran Desert toad, whose toxins form a powerful crystallized psychedelic that has been dubbed the “God Molecule.”

For those who want to better understand the actual psychedelic experience, panels and interactives show how these drugs distort reality and the difference a dosage makes. Even more impressive is the exhibition’s centrepiece: an immersive, multimedia “psychedelic journey”—moving from rise and peak to comedown—complete with sharpened textures, repeating fractals, and auditory hallucinations. 

While brimming with interactives, specimens, and artworks, Psychedelics also offers space to reflect, especially in the exhibition’s final section. There, amid a collage of newspaper headlines, visitors are invited to consider the role of psychedelics in today’s society—and where we should go next.

Opening June 6, 2026

Colin J. Fleming is an Executive Writer & Creative Communications Strategist at ROM.