Lola Greeno: Cultural Jewels

12 December 2015 to 7 February 2016

This is the eighth exhibition in the ongoing series Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft, initiated by Object Gallery to celebrate the achievements of the most influential and iconic figures within the Australian crafts movement. Lola Greeno is a highly respected Indigenous shell worker, sculptor, installation and fibre artist, and the first Indigenous Living Treasure in the series. She is originally from Cape Barren Island but now lives in Launceston Tasmania. With more than 30 years of traditional shell necklace making and the knowledge and customs that were passed down from mother to daughter, Lola is one of a handful of women shell stringers who have been responsible for ensuring the craft is passed on from their Elders and continued to the present day.

Greeno has developed a major body of work specifically for this exhibition; supplementing fragile strings of coastal harvest shells, local to her country, with other traditional materials and techniques – fibre weaving, kelp, quills, bones, found objects.

Lola Greeno: Cultural Jewels is an Object Gallery touring exhibition and is part of the Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft series. The exhibition is supported by Object’s National Exhibitions Strategy, funded by the Australia Council and is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government program supporting touring exhibitions by providing funding assistance for the development and touring of Australian cultural material across Australia.

_{Image: Lola Greeno, teunne (king maireener shell crown) (detail) 2013, king maireener shells, cotton thread, diameter 250mm. Photography John Leeming QVMAG.}