Prologue: by Dylan Bolger is an exhibition of works that brings together three distinct yet interrelated multimedia projects. The works form an “internal group show” that continues his exploration of site, archive, matrilineal history, contemporary songlines and indigenous resistance. An exhibition text by Elena Dias-Jayasinha accompanies the show.

Commissioned by SharingStories Foundation, the exhibition is a result of the Sovereign Bus Stations project, a multidisciplinary project that sees Bolger journeying through regional and urban Queensland, along his matrilineal ancestral lines and reimagining it as a new bus route and corresponding bus stations as signposts. Through engagements with extended family and community members, Dylan will trace his family’s journey from these regions to Meeanjin/Magandjin (Brisbane), translating these experiences into a body of contemporary artworks.

Through these engagements, Dylan will be shown, shared, and be gifted an archive of family and personal history. This archive closely reflects a contemporary reading of colonial Australian history, comprising objects and documents that reveal lived experiences in regional and urban Queensland throughout the 1900s, and the regional lives that ultimately led Dylan to Brisbane. The archival materials emphasise reciprocal knowledge exchange through family networks and the transfer of intergenerational knowledge.

To date, Dylan’s practice has responded to the environment where he grew up—on other people’s Country. This project signifies a pivotal moment for Dylan to stand where his ancestors once stood, fostering a profound connection to his heritage while engaging with critical contemporary issues in Australia. These include ongoing conversations about sovereignty, the political discourse surrounding Indigenous rights and policies, and the broader social realities young Aboriginal people face today.