AUGUST used to be a quiet month for visual art – but no longer. The creative spirit of the city is such that its cup overflows in the last month of summer.

Taking a trip up Divis to see the landscape artist competition in the National Trust cafe I was struck again by the immediate magical feeling of being outside of the city, yet still on its edges. The second car park beside the cafe gives the less mobile an opportunity to breathe the mountain air. Bumping into Rachel Radcliffe-Brady after a butterfly count, she told me she's interested in giving any local art groups a tour and access to the Divis site  for paintings and sketching. email rachel.radcliffebrady@nationaltrust.org.uk if you're one of them.

The Féile Exhibition Hub as usual oozes a wonderful selection of art and Beyond Skin presents the work of Noor Arzhang. It's a powerful reminder that not all societies give freedom and space for people to have creative expression. Arzhang is an Afghan street artist based in Kabul, where music and art have been forbidden by the Taliban since 2021. If you're in St Mary's for another event, do take some time to stroll and stare along the college corridors.

Showing at the Féile Exhibition Hub at St Mary's University College. Open 11am to 7pm until Thursday, August 10. 

Jennifer Meighan's '4D Mound Network' at the Cultúrlann highlights her use of artificial intelligence, graphic cards and phones to make images. As new technology changes, some artists incorporate the technology while others choose to ignore it, which is at it should be – after all, it's the artist's freedom to choose. The result is a large body of work of new images that on reflection could only evolve from this mix-up of processes.

The Jennifer Meighan show runs until October 21 at the Cultúrlann.

The Array Collective continues on its upward trajectory  at the Edinburgh Visual Arts Festival (run by ex-Belfast Catalyst art co-director Kim McAleese). They're at the National Gallery of Scotland's Hawthornden Lecture Theatre on August 12 (2pm to 3.30pm) along with Haven for Artists, a cultural feminist organisation based in Beirut. They'll be asking, how can we connect with and find mutual support for internationally-platforming artists? How indeed.

Druid's Sean O'Casey Dublin Trilogy opening night at the Lyric has set the tone for the Belfast run. The pace and characterisation in this spirited snapshot of lives and living conditions in 1915 meant that the sold-out first night grasped  the audience's attention. When the Soldier's Song was sung you could hear a pin drop. The fact that this play was originally staged by the Abbey in Dublin just eleven years after the events portrayed reminds us of the power of the arts to continue to hold a mirror up to society and the importance of supporting artists in every era, no matter what they might want to say. 

The Druid O'Casey Trilogy continues until August 18 at the Lyric – there's only a few seats remaining for some performances.