Conversations with the Assembly #4: Kate Just

Kate Just is a queer American/Australian artist of Polish, Irish, Scottish and German descent who lives and works on Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Victoria. Just is best known for her inventive and political use of knitting. In addition to her solo practice, Just often works socially and collaboratively within communities to create large scale, public art projects that tackle significant social issues including LGBTQIA rights, sexual harassment and violence against women. Her work creates space for viewers to closely reflect on their own relationship to art, feminism, care and social justice.

Infused with a sharp feminist take, in this conversation with Alana Hunt that took place in January 2024, Kate reflects on recent bodies of work including Protest Signs (2022), Self Care Action (2023) and Fifty Rules for Making Art (2023-24); community and activism in regional Victoria; adopting family, and moving with grief.  Follow Kate on instagram @katejustknits

She said, “you have to come home, you have to”. So I went, with this feeling of resistance. And when I got home my Mum was sitting on the couch doing two things which I had never seen her do—smoking and knitting…and I’m thinking “who is this person, who is smoking and knitting?!” I’ve never seen her do either. She was a high powered CEO. And so I just sat next to her and we didn’t really talk much at all. And I just watched her, and I picked it up and started doing it. It was a very profound moment, where I felt like nothing needs to be said, but the world is kind of falling a part, and somehow we are doing this action that connects things back together, and makes something new. And I also had this feeling, while I was sitting next to her silently, you could go to any place in the world and you would find this history of women teaching other women to work with craft. And it would go all the way from the beginning of time, to now.And it’s the medium that contains so many women’s stories, unknown, that may never be known. It would just only ever be in their house, this thing they made. But that is so powerful and so continuous.

Conversations with the Assembly (Series 2) is a podcast that delves deep with practitioners from Regional Assembly—an online artist studio connecting creative practitioners living and working in regional and remote locations in Asia, the Pacific and First Nations unceded territories across Australia. Each episode will foreground distinct voices and amplify, challenge and entwine the many threads of discourse and dialogue that unfold during Regional Assembly. 

To read more about the Regional Assembly click here: https://regionalarts.com.au/programs/regionalassembly

To read more about Regional Arts Australia click here: https://regionalarts.com.au/about/about-regional-arts-australia

The Regional Assembly is a Regional Arts Australia program delivered through the Regional Arts Fund. The Regional Arts Fund supports cultural development in regional, remote and rural communities in Australia. The program is managed by Regional Arts Australia on behalf of the Australian Government.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Regional Arts Australia.