Dylan Sarra is a Taribelang/Gooreng Gooreng artist from the Bundaberg region currently living in Brisbane. With a focus on exploring identity and place, Sarra uses a range of disciplines such as print, digital and sculptural works to gently humanise the Indigenous experience before colonisation. He is involved in the research and development of cultural knowledge and practice to share with the community. Sarra hopes that all people be not only intrigued by Indigenous culture but also start to question the real history around the events of colonisation and its continuing impact.
Winding its way from the Great Dividing Range to the coastline east of Bundaberg lies Burral Burral (the Burnett River). Before settlement, Burral Burral was the lifeblood of the Taribelang people who thrived for generations, living in harmony with the landscape. This can be seen through a story
of the Burral Burral or Burnett River Petroglyphs. The petroglyphs or rock engravings were considered the largest Aboriginal rock-engraving site on the east coast of Queensland. Between 1971 and 1972 a selection of stone blocks from Burral Burral containing Aboriginal engravings were cut out of their traditional site and distributed to multiple locations across Queensland. The removed blocks are still scattered and displaced. This installation is an exploration of the stories surrounding the petroglyphs to continue the conversation of repatriation.
