Summer-long global art party launching soon in Toronto
Published May 25, 2026 at 4:10 pm
A summer-long global art party centred around ceramics is coming soon to Toronto, and it will bring together artists from all over the world for exhibitions and fun.
The Gardiner Museum presents the International Ceramic Art Fair (ICAF), its biennial celebration of innovation in contemporary ceramics.
This year, ICAF is expanding significantly from a 10-day event to a 12-week exhibition and public program. This year’s edition has the theme “the city and the commons.”
The Canadian artists at ICAF will include Suzanne Morrissette and Jaimie Isaac who lead community projects grounded in Indigenous knowledge and land-based practices, Montreal-born Magalie Guérin who links bodies and buildings through sculpture and painting, and Christine Howard Sandoval who explores themes of habitation through their work.
Other Canadian artists that will be participating in ICAF include Hadi Jamali, Eve Tagny and Mel Arsenault.
Jamali is originally from Tehran and works with the intersection of mixed-material installation, interactivity, and time-based media. Tagny works with lenses to investigate the connections between shelter and the urban community, and Arsenault approaches the creation of vessels through the concepts of wonder and curiosity and how they connect to nature and the urban environment.
International artists that will be representing at the fair include Sharif Farrag who blends Arab roots with Southern California urban skate culture in his work through pottery and Jolie Ngo who reflects her Vietnamese heritage using 3D printing methods.
Other international artists include Ronal Rael who blends ancient dwellings with modern technology and Danish-American sculptor Anders Herwald Ruhwald who creates large scale ceramic works that centre around ecology.
Noor Ali Chagani and Clio Lloyd-Jacob are UK-based artists who will be represented at the fair, who will collaborate on an installation of miniature clay buildings set against a clay drawing.
ICAF continues into the summer with the unique summer celebration they call SMASH: Afterglow on June 10. The high-energy, next-generation art party will span all three floors of the Museum, featuring installations, performances, music, and all kinds of various interdisciplinary creative experiences.
“ICAF 2026 looks at ceramics not only as one of the oldest and most deeply human artistic
traditions, but as a medium shaping the future,” says Dr. Sequoia Miller, Chief Curator & Deputy Director at the Gardiner Museum.
“By bringing together traditional approaches with contemporary forms and technologies, the exhibition explores how we build a sense of belonging and connection while sharing and sustaining urban life today.”
ICAF will be running May 28 to August 16, 2026.