A magical journey through Africa’s early history

Tucked away on the sprawling Wits campus in central Johannesburg is the Origins Centre, a hidden gem of a museum and art gallery that takes visitors on a journey through Africa’s incredibly rich and complex heritage.

This is not your average museum. From the entrance, where the spectacular Walter Oltmann hand-woven wire sculpture takes your breath away, to the spirituality of the San and Khoi rock engravings, this is a place to savor and linger.

If you’re wondering whether kids will forget their electronic devices for a while, don't worry; there is enough at Origins to keep them entertained for hours while they learn about the importance of indigenous cultures.

“The history of tribes like the Khoi and San offers a glimpse into the origins of our entire species and how they lived,” explains acting curator Dr. Tammy Raynard.

These stone tools and rock paintings remind us of our ancestors’ deep, spiritual connection with nature - a connection that has now been mostly forgotten, with disastrous consequences for the planet’s health. The respect our distant ancestors held for wildlife serves as a reminder that, no matter how advanced our civilisation becomes, we are distinct yet interconnected species.

“The entire space is a mix between a museum and an art gallery,” explains Raynard.

The story of the past is recreated through multiple short documentaries displayed in different sections of the gallery, depicting the lives of the hunter-gatherers who called the bushveld home. One of these viewings is cleverly disguised as an opening in a cave-like room, adding to the immersion of the experience.

Raynard notes that a more personal benefit is that the center allows children to expand their minds in an active way; they navigate an almost maze-like gallery that rewards exploration with many exhibits of artifacts and contemporary artworks inspired by them.

Despite these pieces being crafted in the modern day, they still capture the essence of their inspirations. The artworks include a clever use of old wood by artist Hannelie Coetzee in her sculpture of four hyenas.

There are also 11 massive tapestries designed by Tamar Mason and produced by a collective of craftswomen depicting the history of the San. Moving and awe-inspiring, the tapestries trace the origins of the San through their often-blighted history.

The non-artistic relics display the evolution of tools humans used to survive and thrive in the wild. From handheld axes to bone arrowheads, the craftsmanship required to make these “primitive” weapons demanded skills that most people today could only replicate with modern technology, a humbling reminder that we are not necessarily smarter than our ancestors.

Unlike most museums, the Origins Centre gives visitors permission to touch some of the relics on display, providing a firsthand experience of the tools our forebears used in their everyday lives.

There is much more to be learned at the gallery, such as how the continents shifted around the globe over millennia. Did you know that Africa and South America were once neighbors? To see this in person, check out the temporary exhibit: Our Wandering Continents / Nuestros Continentes Errantes by Marcela Cabutti (Argentina).

In this exhibition, Cabutti asks us to re-examine things we usually consider motionless, such as continents and tectonic plates, to restore their status as bodies in slow and constant motion. She draws on research from geological and historical archives, using maps and rocks as coordinates for a narrative about time and territory.

The exhibition is on until 14 February 2026. - Written by Sebastian Lamprecht

This story is produced by Our City News, a non-profit newsroom that serves the people of Johannesburg.