Neva Reliquary is a collection of handmade-paper artworks, by Catherine Stringer, presented as relics, tributes or memorials to the Neva passengers.

The Neva was wrecked off Cape Wickham, King Island, in 1835, whilst en route from Ireland to Sydney. On board were 150 Irish women convicts, 9 free women and their 55 children. There were only 6 women survivors.

The process for creating these works, using seaweeds and shore plants gathered from the Cape Wickham area, was first researched by the artist during a residency at the King Island Cultural Centre in 2011. Techniques have since been developed and refined to produce a range of delicate paper fabrics from which symbolic garments for the shipwreck victims have been formed.

Image shows a detail of the artwork ‘Funeral Gown for baby Catherine Malone’, by Catherine Stringer.