Jewel of the sea

The people of Tasmania have maintained their cultural traditions, expressed in the manufacture of many domestic items including shell necklaces. These art practices are assisted by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation of Women's Arts and Crafts through workshops in the northern parts of the island. Shell stringers, such as Jeanette James, Corrie Fullard and Dulcie Greeno, undertake the painstaking labour of collecting a range of delicate seashells, the most special of which is the tiny maireener shell (Phasianotrochus irisodontes), which is stripped to reveal its exquisite opalescent beauty © Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory