Top 5 Montreal Art Exhibits | September 10 to 13, 2026
The Best Kept MTL guide to the exhibitions, vernissages and artists worth discovering in Montreal this week
September has arrived, and Montreal’s art scene is officially waking up from its summer rhythm.
This week is particularly strong. The Belgo launches its massive fall cultural opening on Thursday, September 10, bringing roughly twenty vernissages under one roof. On Friday, the action shifts toward Mile End and the cultural spaces of de Gaspé.
Whether you want contemporary Indigenous art, photography, typography or work exploring Montreal’s communities, Best Kept MTL has curated the Top 5 Montreal Art Exhibits worth putting on your radar from September 10 to 13.
Thursday, September 10
1. Maria Hupfield | Galerie Hugues Charbonneau
Vernissage: Thursday, September 10, 5 PM to 8 PM
Exhibition: September 10 to October 17, 2026
Location: Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, 372 Sainte Catherine Street West, Suite 508
Thursday’s essential destination is the Belgo, and Maria Hupfield gives us a compelling place to start.
The Anishinaabe multidisciplinary artist works across sculpture, performance, installation and video, often transforming familiar materials into objects connected to memory, movement and cultural experience.
Her opening coincides with the Belgo’s fall rentrée, when around twenty galleries and cultural organizations open their doors simultaneously. Admission is free, making this one of Montreal’s biggest contemporary art nights of the season.
Why go? Come for Hupfield, then wander. The beauty of the Belgo is discovering something completely unexpected three doors later.
2. Fait maison | Kama La Mackerel
Vernissage: Thursday, September 10
Location: Centre des arts actuels SKOL, 372 Sainte Catherine Street West
While you are inside the Belgo, make your way to SKOL.
Kama La Mackerel’s Fait maison : histoires badass des communautés QTBIPOC de Montréal turns attention toward stories of identity, belonging and communities within Montreal.
This is exactly why our Top 5 Montreal Art Exhibits isn’t simply about finding attractive things to hang on walls. Contemporary art becomes much more interesting when it introduces us to experiences within our own city that we may not encounter every day.
Why go? For a distinctly Montreal perspective and another reason to turn Thursday’s Belgo rentrée into a full art crawl.
Friday, September 11
3. Entre tes mains | Claudia Goulet Blais
Exhibition: September 11 to October 24, 2026
Artist presentation: Saturday, September 12, 3 PM to 4 PM
Location: OPTICA, 5445 Avenue de Gaspé, Suite 106
Friday brings another major rentrée, this time at the cultural hub surrounding 5445 and 5455 de Gaspé, where artist run centres open their new seasons together.
Claudia Goulet Blais turns the camera toward the intimate relationship between mother and daughter in Entre tes mains. Photography meets ceramics and textiles in a project touching on ageing, memory and care.
Why go? Because some of the week’s quietest images may also be its most affecting.
4. Fleurs coupées | Anne Marie Proulx and Sara A. Tremblay
Exhibition: September 11 to October 24, 2026
Artist presentation: Saturday, September 12, 4 PM to 5 PM
Location: OPTICA, 5445 Avenue de Gaspé, Suite 106
Stay at OPTICA for Fleurs coupées, where Anne Marie Proulx and Sara A. Tremblay explore landscape, gardens, memory and human relationships through photography.
The garden here becomes more than scenery. It becomes a place capable of holding memories, difficult passages and connections between people.
Why go? Visit Friday during the de Gaspé rentrée for atmosphere, or return Saturday when both OPTICA exhibitions have consecutive artist presentations.
Saturday, September 12
5. ECAL Atlas Typographique | Centre de design de l’UQAM
Exhibition: September 10 to October 4, 2026
Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, noon to 6 PM
Admission: Free
Location: Centre de design de l’UQAM, 1440 Rue Sanguinet
Our Saturday pick is for anyone who has ever obsessed over a font without admitting it.
ECAL Atlas Typographique presents more than 300 typefaces created by students from 27 countries. Montreal adds another dimension through 138 Quebec typographic creations from the past fifteen years and an immersive projection installation. Typography becomes art, language and cultural identity all at once.
Why go? It’s visually different from everything else on this week’s list, completely free and an easy Saturday afternoon cultural stop.
Best Kept MTL’s Pick of the Week
If you choose only one evening from the Top 5 Montreal Art Exhibits, make it Thursday, September 10 at the Belgo.
Start with Maria Hupfield, visit Kama La Mackerel, then forget the itinerary and explore. With galleries throughout the building launching their fall programming simultaneously, this is one of those Montreal nights when getting slightly lost is part of the experience. Fall art season is officially on.
Once you’ve explored this week’s art scene, keep the discovery going with our guide to Montreal’s best hidden gems in 2026, featuring 10 under-the-radar spots that prove the city’s best finds are often hiding in plain sight.
