Betty Grace, palawa shell-necklace maker, grew up on Flinders Island, Tasmania and has remained there for most of her life. Grace is continuing a long tradition of shell collecting and necklace making amongst Tasmanian Aboriginal communities: as a child she observed her aunties and grandmother collecting and stringing shells on Cape Barren Island and Babel Island, which (along with Flinders Island) are in the Furneaux Island Group off the north-east coast of Tasmania. As an adult, Grace has received training from her mother, “Auntie” Dulcie Greeno , who is a respected elder and renowned shell-necklace maker.
In 2002 Grace and her mother participated in the Purrelayde project, an Arts Tasmania residency project devoted to assisting elder shell-necklace makers pass on the shell-collecting and stringing techniques to younger Tasmanian Aboriginal women. In 2006/2007, Grace participated in the 'Strait Across: the Artists of King and Flinders Island’ exhibition, shown concurrently on King and Flinders Island. Grace’s work is in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.
- Writers:
- Fisher, Laura
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
