The arrival of the Cronulla shell season has always had significant meaning to Indigenous Australians.

It is part of a phenomenon that causes an explosion in shellfish numbers, causing more fish, such as snapper, to come closer to the shoreline to eat them.

On Friday night, an Aboriginal artist from the South Coast launched a week-long exhibition at Art Arena Wollongong called Cronulla, Jewels of the Sea.

The cultural exhibition is inspired by thousands of years of ceremony with the Cronulla representing the start of the snapper season.

"They are like chocolate to snapper," artist Clive Freeman said.

He said the exhibition of ceremonial adornments involved shells collected by his family in the past century, including some collected by his grandmother.

The washing ashore of Cronulla always evoked excitement and joy within the Indigenous community because it was a rare event. But now it is becoming even rarer.

"The shells are also becoming increasingly brittle because of pollution," Mr Freeman said.

The arrival of the Cronulla traditionally was greeted with a ceremony represented by the multitude of colours and unique design found in each of the cultural ceremonial adornments.

The week-long exhibition at Art Arena also features weaving and rock art works by Mr Freeman's sister Markeeta Freeman and mother Julie Freeman.

The story of the Cronulla shells has been passed down by generations of the Freeman family.

"I think as an Aboriginal person it is important to send a message out about who we are and how we have survived," Mr Freeman said.