Opened in 2006, the Origins Centre offers visitors a unique experience of Africa’s rich, complex and sometimes mysterious past. Combining cutting-edge technology with the creative vision of South Africa’s foremost artists, the narrative structure of the museum takes visitors through an extraordinary journey of discovery. The journey begins with the origins of humankind in Africa and then moves through the development of art, symbolism and technology on the continent. The journey then continues through the diverse southern African rock art traditions – the world’s oldest continuous art form. It explains how the traditions were destroyed at the hands of colonists, but ends more positively with the re-discovery of these ancient masterworks in a contemporary world.

Proudly Africa-centric, the Origins Centre seeks to restore the continent to its rightful place in history, where everything that makes us who we are today originated. This sentiment is captured in the museum’s motto: We are who we are because of who we were.

At the Origins Centre visitors can: • See the earliest image made by man, found here in South Africa.

• Take an 80,000 year journey in search of the art and culture that has inspired humans in their search for innovation.

• Experience the oldest known ritual that is still practised today – the San/Bushman trance dance.

• Trace their genetic make up through DNA and find out who they really are.

• Attend a weekly public lecture series and monthly film evenings.

The average museum experience lasts from between 90 minutes to 2 hours, but for the enthusiast there is an unsurpassed (and continuously growing) wealth of extra multi-media material. Audio guides in six languages – Zulu, Sotho, English, Afrikaans, French and German– are free with admission.