What's On

What’s on in Northern Ireland

Discover what’s on in Northern Ireland for visual arts with our definitive events guide: from Belfast’s cutting-edge gallery exhibitions at the MAC and Catalyst Arts to immersive printmaking workshops in Derry’s historic Guildhall Quarter, plus open-studio weekends across County Antrim and pop-up sculpture trails on the Ards Peninsula. Explore artist-led masterclasses in the Causeway Coast’s dramatic landscapes, behind-the-scenes curator talks at Tannaghmore Gardens in Lisburn, and family-friendly mural festivals in Newry. Our Northern Ireland visual-arts roundup brings you weekly updates on gallery openings, limited-edition craft fairs, collaborative installation projects, and exclusive preview nights—perfect for collectors, creatives, and culture lovers alike. Stay in the loop with insider exhibition tips, early-bird tickets to specialist workshops, and curated exhibition tours that showcase both emerging talents and renowned artists. Elevate your Ulster art experience today with our all-in-one “What’s On” resource.

Belfast / Rest of Northern Ireland

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Event | Belfast Pop Shop at Vault Artist Studios

Event | Belfast Pop Shop at Vault Artist Studios

13/12/2025 - 14/12/2025
12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Vault Artist Studios (Marlborough House)
30 Victoria St, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT1 3GG

Belfast Pop Shop is back!
Live t-shirt printing! Godzilla Santa!
Original street art and screen prints and art sale!
The Belfast Pop Shop is an experimental art-gallery-boutique run by Leo Boyd and based upon the original New York Pop Shop set up by Keith Haring in 1986.
Not Fast Food but Fast Art!
As well as showcasing a pile of unseen original artworks direct from Leo Boyd’s studio the Pop Shop has a range of art based merch from Belfast Kitty Hall tea-towels to Poke Wagon pin badges to hand printed tote bags and t-shirts!
For updates and photos head to @leoboydprints

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Closing
Pollanroe Burn | Emily McFarland at Void Art Centre

Pollanroe Burn | Emily McFarland at Void Art Centre

27/09/2025 - 13/12/2025
Void Art Centre
10 Waterloo Place, Derry, BT48 6BU

Pollanroe Burn or An Pollán Rua – the little red pool – unfolds through a series of new films and archival fragments, forming part of artist Emily McFarland’s ongoing long-term research into the shifting ecology of the Sperrin Mountains of West Tyrone, in the North of Ireland, in the shadow of proposed major industrial-scale gold extraction. The project asks: How can we cultivate modes of thinking that allow intellect and empathy to apprehend the long-standing and delicate connections between humans and their environments?

Launching: Saturday 27 September 2025 at Void Art Centre, 6-8pm

Read more →
Homeward | Barbara Allen at ArisAnn Gallery

Homeward | Barbara Allen at ArisAnn Gallery

05/11/2025 - 13/12/2025
11:00 am - 5:30 pm
ArisAnn Gallery
70 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AE, Belfast, County Antrim, BT5 5AE

The celebrated watercolour artist, Barbara Allen, returns home for exceptional new show at ArtisAnn Gallery in Belfast.

She is a six-time winner of the Watercolour Prize at the Royal Ulster Academy.

She has exhibited extensively including at the White House and at Bergen in Norway. Her work is held in many important collections, including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland, Invest NI and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London.

Read more →
Event | Belfast Pop Shop at Vault Artist Studios

Event | Belfast Pop Shop at Vault Artist Studios

13/12/2025 - 14/12/2025
12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Vault Artist Studios (Marlborough House)
30 Victoria St, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT1 3GG

Belfast Pop Shop is back!
Live t-shirt printing! Godzilla Santa!
Original street art and screen prints and art sale!
The Belfast Pop Shop is an experimental art-gallery-boutique run by Leo Boyd and based upon the original New York Pop Shop set up by Keith Haring in 1986.
Not Fast Food but Fast Art!
As well as showcasing a pile of unseen original artworks direct from Leo Boyd’s studio the Pop Shop has a range of art based merch from Belfast Kitty Hall tea-towels to Poke Wagon pin badges to hand printed tote bags and t-shirts!
For updates and photos head to @leoboydprints

Read more →
Christmas Exhibition | QSS Group Exhibition at The Arches Centre

Christmas Exhibition | QSS Group Exhibition at The Arches Centre

04/12/2025 - 16/12/2025
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
QSS
The Arches Centre, 11-13 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AA

Exhibition runs: Sunday 7 December 12–5pm and Monday 8 December – Thursday 16 December, 10am–5pm

Over 50 QSS artists and Associate Members will show select pieces across our two gallery spaces. Works displayed in Gallery 1 will be priced under £300. Works shown in Gallery 2 will be priced accordingly and shown alongside individual prints and smaller sculptural objects.

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Limavady Art Group | Group Exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre

Limavady Art Group | Group Exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre

07/11/2025 - 19/12/2025
9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre
24 Main Street, Limavady, Londonderry, BT49 0FJ

Exhibition Launch: Friday 7th November at 6pm 

Both shows present the perfect opportunity to support local artists and purchase unique artworks as unforgettable Christmas gifts.

Read more →
Pavestone Collective Exhibition | Group Exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre

Pavestone Collective Exhibition | Group Exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre

07/11/2025 - 19/12/2025
9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre
24 Main Street, Limavady, Londonderry, BT49 0FJ

Exhibition Launch: Friday 7th November at 6pm

The Pavestone Collective was established in October 2011, by clients who attend the Pavestone Centre, Coleraine. The collective was created through ‘Leisure Quest’, a programme designed to rehabilitate adults with physical or mental health conditions. Members of the Pavestone Collective have met to produce creative art for many years embracing all forms of visual arts for self-expression, skills development, and therapeutic value.

Read more →
On-going
The Memories of Others | Akihiko Okamura at the Ulster Museum

The Memories of Others | Akihiko Okamura at the Ulster Museum

24/08/2025 - 04/01/2026
12:00 pm - 5:00 am
Ulster Museum
Stranmillis Road, Botanic Gardens, Belfast, BT9 5AB

Exhibition continues from the 13th of June to the 4th of January 2026

An exhibition of rarely seen artworks by internationally important Japanese war photographer Akihiko Okamura, documenting his relationship with Ireland during the Troubles. 

From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Japanese war photographer Akihiko Okamura (1929-1985) created a powerful and largely unseen collection of photographs in Ireland, both north and south. 

After covering the Vietnam War, Akihiko Okamura visited Ireland in 1968 drawn by the connection to John F. Kennedy’s family roots. A year later, he moved to Ireland with his own family and stayed until his sudden passing in 1985. During that time, he captured everyday life with his family and the conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles.

Okamura’s photographs have rarely been seen before, and show a unique artistic view of Ireland at this time. What makes his work stand out is that he chose to make Ireland his home. Among all the international photographers working at that time, Okamura stood out for his commitment to the history of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Since he became so closely connected to what he was photographing, Okamura created innovative images in both his own style and how the Troubles were shown through photography. His profound, personal relationship with Ireland allowed him to develop a new method of documenting conflict: poetic and ethereal moments of peace in a time of war.

Akihiko Okamura: The Memories of Others is now open in Art Gallery 4, Ulster Museum. No booking needed. 

The Memories of Others is a Photo Museum Ireland touring exhibition. Curated by Pauline Vermare, Seán O’Hagan, Masako Toda, Brendan Maher and Trish Lambe, with the support of the Estate of Akihiko Okamura, it premiered at Photo Museum Ireland in 2024. It opened in Belfast during Belfast Photo Festival.

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Pollanroe Burn | Emily McFarland at Void Art Centre

Pollanroe Burn | Emily McFarland at Void Art Centre

27/09/2025 - 13/12/2025
Void Art Centre
10 Waterloo Place, Derry, BT48 6BU

Pollanroe Burn or An Pollán Rua – the little red pool – unfolds through a series of new films and archival fragments, forming part of artist Emily McFarland’s ongoing long-term research into the shifting ecology of the Sperrin Mountains of West Tyrone, in the North of Ireland, in the shadow of proposed major industrial-scale gold extraction. The project asks: How can we cultivate modes of thinking that allow intellect and empathy to apprehend the long-standing and delicate connections between humans and their environments?

Launching: Saturday 27 September 2025 at Void Art Centre, 6-8pm

Read more →
Exhibition | William McKeown at The MAC

Exhibition | William McKeown at The MAC

09/10/2025 - 04/01/2026
12:00 am
The MAC
10 Exchange St, Belfast

William McKeown made paintings, drawings, prints and installations that captured the openness and life-enhancing power of nature.
Guided by a belief in the primacy of feeling, his paintings often appeared at first to resemble objective minimalism or the monochrome. Yet they offered much more: nature as real and tangible, all around us, something to be touched and felt.
Each painting is slightly off square, undermining the perfection of geometry, and scaled roughly to the size of the human chest, as if mirroring the capacity of our lungs to breathe in air.

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Sea Skin | Niamh Seana Meehan at The MAC

Sea Skin | Niamh Seana Meehan at The MAC

09/10/2025 - 04/01/2026
12:00 am
The MAC
10 Exchange St, Belfast

Sea Skin features a tactile soft sculpture inspired by the experience of sea swimming and encounters beneath the ocean’s surface.

Drawing from site visits to the islands of West Cork, the textures and colours of the piece reflect the diverse types of seaweed that embrace the coastal landscape.

The installation invites viewers to engage with the textile sculpture, as soft, airy fabrics gently brush against your skin, encouraging tactile exploration through hand-sewn strands.

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LAST ACT | Marie Hanlon & Rhona Clarke at The MAC

LAST ACT | Marie Hanlon & Rhona Clarke at The MAC

09/10/2025 - 04/01/2026
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
The MAC
10 Exchange St, Belfast

LAST ACT at The MAC, Belfast is a synchronized video installation by artist Marie Hanlon and composer Rhona Clarke. The work presents climate change as something both real and abstract, as such it mirrors the human response to a changing earth. Visual imagery draws on footage of real weather events, sequences are coordinated to make them different from daily media reportage. Opening and closing sections allude to industry and rise of emission levels following the industrial revolution. Rhona Clarke’s choral music takes its text from the latin poem Dies Irae, referencing the final judgement.

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Homeward | Barbara Allen at ArisAnn Gallery

Homeward | Barbara Allen at ArisAnn Gallery

05/11/2025 - 13/12/2025
11:00 am - 5:30 pm
ArisAnn Gallery
70 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AE, Belfast, County Antrim, BT5 5AE

The celebrated watercolour artist, Barbara Allen, returns home for exceptional new show at ArtisAnn Gallery in Belfast.

She is a six-time winner of the Watercolour Prize at the Royal Ulster Academy.

She has exhibited extensively including at the White House and at Bergen in Norway. Her work is held in many important collections, including the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland, Invest NI and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London.

Read more →
Limavady Art Group | Group Exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre

Limavady Art Group | Group Exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre

07/11/2025 - 19/12/2025
9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre
24 Main Street, Limavady, Londonderry, BT49 0FJ

Exhibition Launch: Friday 7th November at 6pm 

Both shows present the perfect opportunity to support local artists and purchase unique artworks as unforgettable Christmas gifts.

Read more →
Pavestone Collective Exhibition | Group Exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre

Pavestone Collective Exhibition | Group Exhibition at Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre

07/11/2025 - 19/12/2025
9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre
24 Main Street, Limavady, Londonderry, BT49 0FJ

Exhibition Launch: Friday 7th November at 6pm

The Pavestone Collective was established in October 2011, by clients who attend the Pavestone Centre, Coleraine. The collective was created through ‘Leisure Quest’, a programme designed to rehabilitate adults with physical or mental health conditions. Members of the Pavestone Collective have met to produce creative art for many years embracing all forms of visual arts for self-expression, skills development, and therapeutic value.

Read more →
Mise en Abyme | Sharon Murphy at Golden Thread Gallery

Mise en Abyme | Sharon Murphy at Golden Thread Gallery

22/11/2025 - 31/01/2026
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Golden Thread Gallery
23-29 Queen Street, Belfast, BT1 6EA

In November 2025 Golden Thread Gallery will be presenting a new exhibition by artist Sharon Murphy, curated by Sarah McAvera.
Drawing from her background in theatre and shaped by influences from psychoanalysis and magic realism, Murphy’s work delves into theatrical settings, captured in moments of quiet and stillness. Through recurring symbols such as curtains, deserted stages, and performative environments, she investigates the thin line between illusion and reality, presence and absence.

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The Border That Crossed Me | Azzedine Saleck at Golden Thread Gallery

The Border That Crossed Me | Azzedine Saleck at Golden Thread Gallery

22/11/2025 - 31/01/2026
11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Golden Thread Gallery
23-29 Queen Street, Belfast, BT1 6EA

The Border That Crossed Me is a multi-sensory collaborative exhibition exploring surveillance technology, border infrastructures, and climate-induced migration. This exhibition has been devised for the Golden Thread Gallery in collaboration with FLAX Artist Studios, Belfast and Azzedine Saleck. Presented in our Upper Gallery, The Border That Crossed Me examines the political and emotional geographies of divided territories across the globe.

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Christmas Exhibition | QSS Group Exhibition at The Arches Centre

Christmas Exhibition | QSS Group Exhibition at The Arches Centre

04/12/2025 - 16/12/2025
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
QSS
The Arches Centre, 11-13 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AA

Exhibition runs: Sunday 7 December 12–5pm and Monday 8 December – Thursday 16 December, 10am–5pm

Over 50 QSS artists and Associate Members will show select pieces across our two gallery spaces. Works displayed in Gallery 1 will be priced under £300. Works shown in Gallery 2 will be priced accordingly and shown alongside individual prints and smaller sculptural objects.

Read more →
Across Eurasia, Encountering Ulster | Lin Li at room2

Across Eurasia, Encountering Ulster | Lin Li at room2

04/12/2025 - 08/01/2026
11:15 am - 11:45 pm
room2
32-36 Queen St, Belfast BT1 6EE, Belfast, Antrim, BT1 6EE

Across Eurasia, Encountering Ulster – Lin Li Solo Exhibition – 4 Dec to 8 Jan 2026.

Exhibited works:
– Sláinte
– Tranquil Moment in Gleann na Srutha
– The Silence of Ghaibhóile
– Ten Minutes After Sunset, Béal Feirste
– Flowing Mountain Light, Aontroim
– Vortex of Bóthar na bhFál Dorcha
– Eternal Currents — Machaire Rabhartaigh Shore
– Golden Portaigh R-255
– Dathanna An Earagail (Colours of Errigal)
– Crimson Plateau of An Mhucais
– Somnolent Fever of a Dreaming Oileán Reachlainn
– Sleepwalking Dún Lúiche

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In the flow of being | Liudmila Kalinka at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich

In the flow of being | Liudmila Kalinka at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich

04/12/2025 - 15/01/2026
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich
216 Falls Rd, Belfast, BT12 6AH

This new body of work by Liudmila Kalinka explores clarity, calm, and joy through accepting thoughts, feelings, and sensations as a continuous flow of energy.

This exhibition, shaped by an intuitive process and based on personal experience, reflects an inner flow as a cycle of states that arise, dissolve, and renew. Each series grows from the previous one, as if one state naturally gives rise to the next and each piece is part of this unfolding process.

The work brings awareness into inner presence, showing how every moment, as it comes, becomes part of a path toward clarity and joy, revealing the beauty of simply being.

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DISASTERS AND INTERVENTIONS | Oliver Jeffers at The Naughton Gallery

DISASTERS AND INTERVENTIONS | Oliver Jeffers at The Naughton Gallery

08/12/2025 - 29/03/2026
12:00 am
The Naughton Gallery
Lanyon Building, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, BT7 1NN

Exhibition continues from the 4th of December 2025 to the 29th of March 2026.

Each piece in the exhibition involves the artist intervening in some way on a found image. Although collage has long been part of Jeffers’ approach, both the disaster paintings and the intervention works differ from traditional collage: rather than cutting up found material for its colour or specific imagery, Jeffers uses the entirety of the original scene, adding a new element that completely alters the depicted narrative.

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Tribes & Tribulations | Helen Merrigan Colfer at Ards Arts Centre

Tribes & Tribulations | Helen Merrigan Colfer at Ards Arts Centre

11/12/2025 - 17/01/2026
12:00 am
Ards Arts Centre
Conway Square, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT23 4NP

In this exhibition, Helen Merrigan Colfer explores a personal journey from childhood to adulthood in the ongoing search for belonging and self-acceptance.

Through emotionally resonant sculptures, Colfer reflects on the universal human desire to find one’s “Tribe.”

Audiences can expect totemic forms representing inner strength, transformation, and resilience. The works confront themes of conformity, identity, and personal power, moving through darkness and light.

As Colfer asks, “Is that journey complete or still underway?” the exhibition invites reflection, hope, and a sense of shared humanity.

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