Looking to get a dose of arts and culture? You’re in luck because Toronto has no shortage of amazing museums filled with temporary exhibits plus cool pop-up immersive experiences happening in the city that are mind-bendingly awesome! Visit the Bata Shoe Museum for a beautiful exhibit on flowers and footwear or go on an adventure in Hawkins with an amazing Stranger Things Experience that’s passing through Toronto for a limited time. With that being said, here are 7 of our favorite mind-bending exhibits and experiences to visit this summer in Toronto.
1. Jurassic World: The Exhibition
Head over to Mississauga for a larger-than-life exhibit you’ll have to experience before it’s gone in October. All through summer, you can experience this epic walk into one of Hollywood’s best films. Step into iconic scenes from the movies and come face-to-face with the world’s biggest predators like the T. Rex or the gentler Brachiosaurus as they tower above you. Don’t forget to leave without a few snapshots to immortalize the memory.
2. Seeing the Invisible
Water Serpent
, 2021. Courtesy of the artist
An incredible outdoor AR exhibition has come to life at MOCA, The Museum of Contemporary Art that’ll give you a glimpse into the future of art. If the intersection of art and tech scares you, you might feel at ease knowing this museum exhibit is for a good cause. In partnership with the City of Toronto and Toronto Parks, Forestry, and Recreation, Seeing the Invisible invites guests to explore the outdoors using a corresponding mobile app. Doing so can help you explore these incredible landscapes without disturbing the actual land, plus the exhibit invites you to think on themes of nature, environment, sustainability, and tech for a thought-provoking new perspective. The exhibit will be shown until September 30th.
3. Stranger Things Experience
Venture into the Upside Down with the gang at Hawkins in this unbelievable and temporary immersive experience, the Stranger Things Experience in Toronto. This time, you’re the hero of the story! Enter iconic scenes from the hit Netflix series and enjoy themed music, food, and drinks. The event beings in Hawkins Lab where you’ll be a part of an interactive story before you get to explore the rest of the space, take photos in beautiful sets that resemble the series, and buy cool merch.
4. Kapwani Kiwanga – Remediation
Showing until July 23rd is Remediation, the first major exhibition by French-Canadian artist, Kapwani Kiwanga. This new exhibition focuses on her latest research that examines how humans and the natural environment navigate tensions between toxicity and regeneration. Kiwanga’s practice often focuses on the way nature and humans interact and how nature even decides its own course in history through its response to human intervention. While this may have you scratching your head, the answers will start to form once you explore Remediation at the MOCA, for a site-specific dialogue that will help you explore yours and Toronto’s part in human history.
5. T. Rex: The Ultimate Predator
Yes, dinosaurs seem to be making a splash here in Ontario, and at the Royal Ontario Museum, you can get an even more in-depth look at history’s greatest dino. T.Rex: The Ultimate Predator, is a great way to extend your knowledge after touring Jurassic World. Answering questions like “Can a T.Rex digest a bone?” to “What do the babies look like?” this museum will take you on a journey from the start of life to the end and help you uncover some of the most exciting facts about this misunderstood animal. Tickets cost $39.00 for general admission to the museum as well as the T. Rex exhibit and it’s open until September 4th.
6. In Bloom
This perfect spring exhibition has just bloomed at the Bata Shoe Museum titled In Bloom, a gorgeous exhibition dedicated to “flowers and footwear.” The exhibit launched April 30th and will be on show until October 6th of 2024. The symbolism of flowers will be on full display as well as its role as inspiration and material for shoemakers across the centuries.
7. RAD
ROM after dark turns RAD this spring and summer with their special after-hour socials. On one Friday each month from 7:30pm 11:30pm visitors can enjoy special after-hour access to ROM’s full space plus curated entertainment and art experiences with diverse local and artisanal food to choose from. Their next exhibit on May 19th is called ‘RAD: Tusarnitut! Music Born of the Cold.’ Other dates include
- June 30th
- July 28th
- August 25th