Art Unwrapped 2022

Art Unwrapped 2022 is our fifth annual ‘gift to the city’ exhibition aiming to focus on singular works and bring rarely seen paintings from museum and private collections to the wider public.

This year's exhibition, in partnership with National Museums of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council, focuses on the work of Margaret Clarke and Catherine McWilliams and, for the first time, Art Unwrapped is expanding from one painting from their national collection to include a further three paintings from Newry and Mourne Museum, the Irish News and a private collector.

This will bring together work by both Margaret Clarke and Catherine McWilliams, two highly regarded Northern Irish female painters, born almost half a century apart, who deserve greater recognition for their contribution to Northern Ireland's art history.

Art Unwrapped 2022 will create a visual and thematic narrative through which the works can ‘speak’ to one another and platform the work of both these artists whose work has never before been exhibited together, shining a new light on their contribution to our art heritage and bringing new audiences to their exceptional work.

This exhibition is invigilated by students from the Belfast School of Art. You can book a tour with them via Book a Tour

The gallery is open during the following hours:

Daily, Monday - Saturday, 11:00am to 5:00pm

The gallery opens late to 8:00pm on Thursdays 8h and 15th December and Thursday 5th January.

The gallery is closed for the holidays 23rd to 27th December and 31st December to 3rd January.