THE saying goes that one person’s rubbish is another’s treasure and that is certainly the case with a new exhibition at the National Maritime Museum.

Stranded, which opens on February 2, features the work of artist Joanna Atherton who creates colourful tapestries from fishing line, netting, rope and other unexpected items left washed up on our beaches by the great ocean currents.

Joanna’s weavings uses the objects that are just a miniscule fraction of the millions of tonnes of marine litter that enter our seas every year.

Joanna says: “I don’t know whether an |obsessive personality is a prerequisite of the diligent beachcomber, or if I am stirring up something much older; a primeval instinct from our hunter gatherer days. Either way, I am leaving the beach a little bit cleaner as a result of my flotsam weaving.”

Tehmina Goskar, Exhibitions Registrar at the Maritime Museum says: “The Maritime Museum has been |wanting to highlight the serious and growing problem of marine litter in our seas for some time. I am also |delighted to be able to feature clips from the film, The Wrecking Season, made in 2005 by Jane Darke, and |featuring Cornishplaywright and beachcomber Nick Darke.”

As well as the opportunity to view Joanna’s tapestries, visitors to the exhibition can also contribute to their own flotsam creation. Visitors are invited to choose from a selection of found objects including bubble wands, |fishing lures and flowers or bring along their own pieces of flotsam to add to a lobster pot art installation.

The Stranded exhibition opens on February 2 and runs until July 5 at the Museum in Falmouth.