New limited-edition poster collection created in partnership with aftermodern.lab to celebrate the 2026 Polaris Album Short List. CBC presents the Polaris Music Prize has unveiled the 10 newest additions to its signature Polaris Poster series, featuring original artwork inspired by each of the albums on the 2026 Polaris Music Prize Album Short List.
Copies of each Standard Edition poster will be available for pre-order immediately through shop.aftermodernlab.com, with at least 10 of each held back for purchase at the 2026 Polaris Concert & Award Ceremony at Massey Hall on September 22. Tickets to the Polaris Concert & Award Ceremony are available now via Massey Hall.
PURCHASE YOUR COPIES NOW BEFORE THEY SELL OUT
The 2026 poster collection was created in partnership with aftermodern.lab, Polaris Music Prize’s official graphic design partner for 2026. In addition to helping bring this year’s poster program to life, aftermodern.lab has worked alongside Polaris throughout the year to shape the visual identity of the organization’s 2026 season and its expanding slate of programs.
Each year, Canadian visual artists and designers are commissioned to create unique artwork inspired by the albums on the Polaris Music Prize Album Short List. These visual interpretations of the nominees’ music are then transformed into limited-edition silkscreen prints, creating a visual record of some of the most celebrated Canadian albums of the year. This approach carries forward the premise of the longstanding Polaris Poster series, which pairs visual artists with Short List albums to create original art inspired by the music.
This year’s Album Short List poster creators are:
Aiyana Alzamora for Angine de Poitrine’s Vol. II
Joshua Reginales for Aquakultre’s 1783
Anthony Campea for Begonia’s Fantasy Life
Zaal for Bibi Club’s Amaro
Hwa-Jin Jun for Charlotte Cornfield’s Hurts Like Hell
Daniel Wang for Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s Laughter In Summer
Jessica Gerardi for Rochelle Jordan’s Through The Wall
Alexendre Davilmar-Smith for Les Louanges’ Alouette!
Aiyana Alzamora & Anthony Campea for Peaches’s No Lube So Rude
Raven Mayers for Tanya Tagaq’s Saputjiji
Since 2006, Polaris has commissioned more than 220 original artworks through its poster program. Inspired by the tradition of gig posters, these works are presented to each year’s Album Short List artists and Heritage Prize honourees. Polaris poster artwork has gone on to receive recognition from the Society of Illustrators and Communication Arts Annual, appear in exhibitions at the National Arts Centre, Canada Council for the Arts and London Museum, and even become large-scale murals in downtown Toronto.
A NEW LIMITED-EDITION FORMAT FOR 2026
Working with aftermodern.lab, Polaris is introducing a new format for the poster series in 2026, giving collectors and music fans more opportunities to own artwork from the program while directing proceeds back to the designers and Polaris.
Each Short List poster will have 55 numbered copies available for sale, signed by the designer, across two editions:
Standard Edition: 50 numbered copies (1/50–50/50), available for $40 each.
Special Edition: Five separately numbered copies (1/5–5/5), each featuring a hand-rendered embellishment by the designer, available for $100 each.
The five Special Edition posters will also be available at the Concert & Award Ceremony.
Proceeds from Polaris poster sales will be shared between the designers and Polaris.
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