Scotiabank Photography Award: Dawit L. Petros

May 6–August 1, 2026
Main Gallery
Curator: Gaëlle Morel

This survey exhibition celebrates the career of Montreal-based multidisciplinary artist Dawit L. Petros, winner of the 2025 Scotiabank Photography Award. Spanning over 20 years, this presentation of more than 80 photographs, serigraphs, and books traces a long-standing inquiry into the legacy of colonial history across Africa, Europe, and North America. Rooted in rigorous scholarly research and extensive travel, Petros's practice is defined by his creative use of archival photographs, colour, and abstraction. The artist challenges photography’s documentary function while investigating migration, belonging, displacement, and the lingering effects of colonial memory.

Events

Spring/Summer Opening Reception
May 6, 2026
6–8 pm
Eventbrite registration required
Register now >

Artist Talk: Dawit L. Petros
May 7, 2026
7–8:30 pm
IMA-307
Enter via the Image Centre, 33 Gould Street
* Eventbrite registration required (link coming soon)

Special Exhibition Tour
May 27, 2026
6–7 pm
Led by Gaëlle Morel & Helen Tewolde

Special Exhibition Tour
July 15, 2026
6-7 pm
Led by Gaëlle Morel

Fig.

Dawit L. Petros, Colourscape, Coordinate #5, (Dakar, Senegal), 2012, pigment print. Courtesy of the artist and Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal

Fig.

Dawit L. Petros, Spectral Fragment, VI (Enchanted Island), 2025, pigment print, CNC etching on smoked gray plexiglass. Courtesy of the artist and Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal

Fig.

Dawit L. Petros, Between Departures, Returns and Excesses of Image, Part III, 2021, serigraph on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal

Fig.

Dawit L. Petros, Elsa (As Venus), 2004, pigment print. Courtesy of the artist and Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal

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Dawit L. Petros, Demarcation (Painting Sea on Land), Asmara Road, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2011, pigment prints. Collection of Elizabeth Harney and Paul Martin. Courtesy of the artist and Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal

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Dawit L. Petros, Matthios, 2005, pigment print. Courtesy of the artist and Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal

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Dawit L. Petros, Untitled (Ricochet), 2025, mylar, aluminum, pigment print. Courtesy of the artist and Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal

Artist Bio

Dawit L. Petros

Dawit L. Petros (Eritrean/Canadian, b. 1972) is a visual artist, researcher, and educator. He holds an MFA in visual art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University, Boston. Recent exhibition venues include Remai Modern and the University of Saskatchewan’s College Art Galleries, Saskatoon (2025); the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago (2024); Oslo Kunstforening, Norway (2020); the 13th Biennial of Havana, Matanzas, Cuba (2019); and Addis Foto Fest, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2018).

Petros has been awarded an Independent Study Fellowship at the Whitney Museum of American Art (2012) and an artist residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2008), both in New York City. A winner of the Duke and Duchess of York Prize from the Canada Council of the Arts (2021), he is an associate professor of studio art at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. Petros is represented by Bradley Ertaskiran, Montreal, and Tiwani Contemporary, London, UK.