NETS Victoria, in partnership with Warrnambool Art Gallery, is delighted to present Red Flags featuring new works by award-winning Wadawurrung artist Kait James. Curated by Aaron Bradbrook, this solo exhibition is a significant milestone for the artist as the first to tour regional and urban communities across Australia.

Kait James is known for her satirical contemporary craft practice. Using humour and pop cultural references, James’ work subverts and reclaims ‘Aboriginalia’, the racially stereotyped kitsch designs and motifs that feature on products created for non-Indigenous audiences in the souvenir market. James works primarily with collected materials, which she alters through hand-stitched embroidery and collaged fabric. The innocuous souvenir tea towel occupies a central place in her oeuvre, providing a de facto canvas for her comedic interventions into, and political commentary on, ‘Aboriginalia’ . Using vibrantly-coloured threads for aesthetic impact, James’ acerbic humour maximises the impact of her powerful text statements, which are literally and figuratively woven into the found objects she works with. As the punning exhibition title cleverly implies, these souvenirs should place us on high alert: something needs our attention.

Significantly, Kait James’ exhibition contributes to an urgent, broader discourse at the intersection of Australian art, craft, design, commerce, culture, colonialism, politics, identity and history. The artist’s playful yet confronting juxtaposition of images with cleverly crafted slogans invites audiences to think deeply about these complex concepts and histories, made memorable through the artist’s bright aesthetic.

NETS Victoria is the peak body for visual art, craft and design touring, with a program that reflects the diversity of contemporary Australian artists and their stories. Red Flags is an example of NETS Victoria’s ongoing commitment to supporting the work and voices of First Nations artists and providing access to high quality exhibitions for audiences across the country. Over the course of its tour, the exhibition will be accompanied by artist and curator talks, workshops, public and educational programs, and additional resources for teachers.

The Kait James: Red Flags Australian tour commences at the Warrnambool Art Gallery before heading to venues across Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania.

Warrnambool Art Gallery Director Aaron Bradbrook is known for his highly immersive curatorial approach to dynamic contemporary projects, and as a researcher of human rights, race, gender and the political economy. Those considerable skills and attributes are all purposefully brought to bear in Red Flags and on behalf of NETS Victoria’s Artistic Program Advisory Committee, I extend sincere thanks to Aaron for his insightful curatorship of the exhibition.

We are also delighted to congratulate Kait James for her incisive and illuminating artworks, and to thank Raquel Ormella, Kate ten Buuren and Aaron Bradbrook for their thoughtful essays accompanying the exhibition.

We acknowledge the significant support given to Kait James by Creative Australia in the development of this new body of work, and we thank our touring funding partner, the Australian Government through the Office for the Arts’ Visions of Australia Program.

Warrnambool Art Gallery was awarded the NETS Victoria Exhibition Development Fund in 2023. This important ini- tiative provides seed funding for galleries to research and develop new, curated exhibitions of contemporary visual arts, craft and design. NETS Victoria’s Exhibition Development Fund is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, to whom I warmly extend my thanks.