Wits’ Places and Spaces

Wits is located in the Gauteng, the commercial and industrial heartland of Africa. Although its major campuses are spread over 400 hectares in Parktown and Braamfontein, the University’s physical reach extends from Sterkfontein in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site to the Wits Rural Facility in Mpumalanga. Wits is the curator of some of the world’s most priceless treasures – be they palaeontological, historical, artistic or cultural as described in this supplement. The Wits campus has a wealth of sightseeing and educational opportunities which collectively depict the richness of our history, academic endeavours, diversity of disciplines and social interaction. For a free copy of the Wits Places and Spaces booklet, email Shirona.Patel@wits.ac.za

Some of the museums that will be open on Heritage Day are profiled below:

Origins Centre

We are who we are because of who we were - the Origins Centre is the world’s only museum dedicated to exploring and celebrating the history of modern humankind. The Museum provides visitors with a unique experience of Africa’s rich, complex heritage and boasts an extensive collection of rock art from the Wits Rock Art Research Institute.

Exhibits take visitors on an extraordinary journey of discovery, which begins with the origins of humankind in Africa. It then moves through the development of art, symbolism and technology on the continent. The second phase of the Museum focuses on the fossils discovered in South Africa and the contribution that these fossils have made to understanding the development of humankind. The journey then continues, showing the destruction of the diverse southern African rock art traditions – the world’s oldest continuous art forms, before ending with the rediscovery of these ancient masterworks in a contemporary world.

The Centre is home to a vast array of palaeoanthropological, archaeological and genetic materials charting the origins of humankind. Visitors can have their genetic heritage traced by purchasing a DNA kit.

Location: Yale Road, Braamfontein
Tel: +27 11 717 4700
Email: ask@origins.org.za
Website: www.origins.org.za

James Kitching Gallery in the Palaeosciences Centre

The Institute for Human Evolution and the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research collect, conserve, study and interpret the rich fossil heritage of South and southern Africa. They are hosted in the Palaeosciences Centre, which also houses the James Kitching Gallery, a small museum dedicated to palaeontology. Special features include a fossil preparation laboratory, where visitors can watch technicians preparing fossils from the vast collections. The Museum also features several life-size animated reconstructions of fossils, including those of dinosaurs, amphibians and birds. The Centre hosts the largest collection of fossilised plants in the southern hemisphere.

Location: Yale Road, Braamfontein
Tel: +27 11 717 6665
Email: Ian.McKay@wits.ac.za
Website: www.wits.ac.za/geosciences/bpi

Planetarium

A visit to the Planetarium is a must for Gautengers and visitors alike – it is a gateway to the world of science and the stars, which allows visitors a visual tour of the spinning orbits and shining galaxies varying in temperature, temperament and distance that make up the Universe. The first full-sized Planetarium established in Africa and the second in the southern hemisphere, this 52 year old icon hosts more than 77 000 learners and adults annually. The Planetarium serves a public education function and promotes understanding of the links between mathematics, science and technology.

The Planetarium enjoys a high public profile and offers tailored educational outreach and support material including short courses, books, DVDs and educational shows.

Location: Yale Road, Braamfontein
Tel: +27 11 717 1392
Email: planet@planetarium.co.za
Website: www.planetarium.co.za

Life Sciences Museum and Biodiversity Centre

The Life Sciences Museum and Biodiversity Centre is the only natural history museum in Johannesburg and contains both zoological and botanical collections. It has retained a unique character as the display specimens are exhibited in finely crafted teak cabinets which allow the viewer to engage directly with scores of objects at close range.

Items can be selected and arranged to illustrate various themes. This hands-on feature has always proved popular with school groups and a themed week-long exhibition, the Yebo Gogga Yebo amaBlomo Exhibition, attracts thousands of learners to the campus annually. The display area is open to all members of the public while access to the reference collections and guided tours are by appointment.

Location: Lower Ground Floor, Oppenheimer Life
Sciences Building, Braamfontein
Tel: +27 11 717 6464/7
Email: Donald.Mccallum@wits.ac.za or Renee.Reddy@wits.ac.za
Website: www.wits.ac.za/LifeSciencesMuseum

Bleloch Geological Museum

The Bleloch Geological Museum houses a spectacular collection of rock and mineral specimens. The Museum displays have undergone extensive redesign to highlight the tremendous breadth of the Earth Sciences, including Geology, Geophysics, Palaeontology, Planetary Science and Meteorite Studies, Environmental Earth Science, Crystallography and Mineralogy.

Guided tours of the Museum are available for Grades 1 to 12 and teachers’ support is available.

Location: Geosciences Building, Braamfontein
Tel: +27 11 717 6665
Email: Ian.McKay@wits.ac.za
Website: www.wits.ac.za/bgm

Adler Museum of Medicine

The Adler Museum of Medicine preserves the history of the health sciences in southern Africa, with special reference to Gauteng. It supplements the educational activities of the University, especially the Faculty of Health Sciences, by means of collections, research, teaching, exhibitions and publications. Founded in 1962, the Museum contains interesting and invaluable collections depicting the history of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy through the ages. Apart from the hundreds of items of medical historical interest on display, there are also documents, sculptures, pictures, videos and philatelic and medallion collections relating to the health sciences. The Museum has a library of rare books, a significant history of medical reference books and a rich biographical archive.

Visitors can look forward to reconstructions of an African herb shop, a patient consulting a sangoma (traditional healer), a 20^th Century Johannesburg pharmacy, a doctor’s consulting room, a dental surgery, an operating theatre and an optometry display of the same period. A history of scientific medicine is augmented with displays of several alternative modalities. Other attractions range from a reconstruction of a patient being treated by the famous Persian physician Avicenna to an exhibition of early electro-medical equipment. In the foyer outside the Museum are shop fronts of a 19th Century apothecary and optometrist as well as a doctor’s surgery and operating theatre.

The Museum arranges regular public lectures, tours for students of all ages, film shows, exhibitions and provides excellent facilities for medical historical teaching and research.

Location: Foyer of the Wits Medical School,
7 York Road, Parktown
Tel: +27 11 717 2081
Email: adler.museum@wits.ac.za
Website: www.wits.ac.za/health/AdlerMuseum

Wits Art Museum

Visual art can be a powerful vehicle for the development of mutual understanding and respect and the celebration of our heritage. Art also develops emotion, critical thought and appreciation of beauty – all important aspects for an informed society. The collection consists of over 9 000 objects of classical and contemporary South African and African art spanning more than seven decades, including bronze sculptures by Sydney Kumalo, oil paintings by Irma Stern, pencil drawings by JH Pierneef, carved wooden headrests from Limpopo, masks from Nigeria and beadwork from the Eastern Cape as well as more contemporary charcoal drawings by William Kentridge, oil paintings by Robert Hodgins and wooden sculptures by Nelson Mukhuba.

Location: Corner Jan Smuts Avenue and Jorissen Street, Braamfontein
Tel: +27 11 717 1363
Email: Julia.Charlton@wits.ac.za
Website: www.wits.ac.za/wam

Wits University Press

Wits University Press is strategically placed at the crossroads of African and global knowledge production and dissemination. Committed to publishing well-researched innovative books for both academic and general readers, Wits University Press specialises in publications related to art and heritage, popular science, history and politics, biography, literary studies, women’s writing and select textbooks.

Location: University Corner, Jorissen Street, Braamfontein
Tel: +27 11 717 8700
Email: Veronica.Klipp@wits.ac.za
Website: www.witspress.co.za