Permanent Exhibitions

he interactive exhibits at Origins Centre take visitors on an extraordinary journey of discovery, which begins with the origins of humankind in Africa and then moves through the development of technology, art, culture, and symbolism. The journey continues with an exploration of the diverse Southern African rock art traditions. These ancient masterworks, and the artists, are illustrated through contemporary art installations by well-known South African artists.

Our permanent exhibitions:

• Indigenous Gardens – edible and medicinal plants from different biomes that were used in the past and currently by ritual specialists throughout southern Africa.
• African Origins - Early African stone tools from 2.6 million years ago; the origins of humanity in Africa and what makes us human; The sands of time across the world;  replica hominin skulls showing our human evolution over the last 7 million years
• The San and Rock Art - San and their Hunter-Gatherer past; San genocide and Sara Baartman; The eland in San belief; San painting technologies; The trance dance and how San ritual specialists enter the spirit world; rain making and neuropsychology; Interpreting a rock art panel.
• Rock Engraving Archive - Varied engraved rock art traditions & styles in Southern Africa. Can be explored through augmented reality (Download the app on Android or IOS – originscentrear)
• Conservation - Conservation problems facing rock art sites today and site etiquette
• Tapestry Room – Understanding and interpreting San Art; The history of the San told through 11 embroidered panels; The ‘White Lady of the Brandberg’
• Khoe Art - The geometric art found in southern Africa; Who are the Khoekhoen?
• Early (Iron Age) Farmers - The rise of complex societies, including information on Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe; Protest art of the Makgabeng
• Installations by contemporary artists – One Being by Deborah Glencross; World Map by Walter Oltman; Axis Mundi by Russel Scott; Synanthrope by Hannelie Coetzee; Signs of people by Willem Boshoff; Threads of knowing by Tamar Mason; Double Vision by Pippa Scotness & Malcolm Payne; Glass Beads by Martli Jansen van Rensburg.