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Dr Tammy Hodgskiss Reynard heads the Origins Centre at Wits. She considers who decides what a museum keeps, what a pinch of ochre can say that a headline cannot, and what the museum of 2050 should hold.

Dr Tammy Hodgskiss Reynard is the Head of the Origins Centre Museum at Wits University. A proudly South African archaeologist, ochre researcher, museum enthusiast, people hugger and mother, Tammy is passionate about celebrating South Africa’s heritage and sharing it with the world. She loves creating engaging art-science experiences and playing her part in growing an inclusive community.

AJ. Museums were built to decide what gets kept, what gets shown and what gets left out. Who decided at the Origins Centre, and how has that changed since it opened in 2006?

TH. Origins Centre was shaped by many hands: researchers, heritage practitioners, artists and descendant community members. From the start it was meant to be a space for many voices, where storytelling sits alongside science. Since opening in 2006, and now placed within the Wits Science Faculty, that mission has widened, encompassing broader research projects and science communication initiatives. Origins Centre is not just about how we became human, but about what makes us human. The displays and interactions are interdisciplinary, ethical and rooted in community. This means engagement that reaches beyond the museum walls – bridging the academic-public divide – and giving voice to those who were often left out of the history books, misrepresented or who were unethically treated.

AJ. You treat memory as infrastructure. What does a museum hold up, and what falls if it fails?

TH. A museum can be many different things – and the memories and moments it holds are always changing depending on who is viewing them and how we connect with them. Every choice about what goes on display and what stays in storage decides which memories survive or are given value. If a museum fails this, stories narrow, voices are silenced and the past hardens into one version. A museum should always be evolving, as stories change and understandings and perspectives of the past change. At Origins, we try to make engagement with the past personal and interactive through new temporary exhibitions, lectures, workshops and family events.

AJ. The Origins Centre holds 2.6 million-year-old tool technology and early art. Which object most changes how a visitor thinks about who invented what?

TH. It’s difficult to choose one object. But the large, embroidered panels present the viewer with a spellbinding, visual illustration of the complicated and harsh, yet beautiful and hopeful story of southern Africa and its people. Africa is the heart of our human journey. The museum presents the amazing heritage, innovation and diversity that Africa holds – now and in the ancient past. Much of Origins Centre focuses on the first peoples to live here in southern Africa, the San hunter-gatherers. I hope visitors are impacted by their important place in our history (and present), their intimate knowledge of land, plants and animals and how these are all connected cosmologically.

AJ. Your research is on ochre and what it says about early cognition. What does a pinch of ochre tell us that a headline cannot?

TH. I believe everyone needs a little ochre in their life! Ochre and mineral pigments have been used by humans for over 100,000 years, but these, mostly red, mineral pigments were collected for more than 500,000 years in southern Africa, even before anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Although the obvious focus may be on their use as paints, these iron-rich rocks (and soils) can be used in so many ways. Ochre is often used in ritual ceremonies, as a beauty product, to preserve hides, as skin protection, in hafting adhesives, and even as a nutritional supplement. So ochre is not just a pigment, it’s a simple rock that carries a deep human story.

AJ. The centre uses multisensory experiences and AR. What does technology add to a museum, and what can it quietly take away?

TH. The displays, films, contemporary art, interactive experiences and our AR app make Origins a distinctive, multisensory experience. AR can be a valuable way to bring cultural and historical landscapes to life, and it's also fun. But for me, the tactile and hands-on interactions matter most, so holding a stone tool or making ochre paint. But I love how engagement with a giraffe or zebra on the app can ignite the spark for a child to learn more and explore more. Technology speaks more strongly to some people than to others, so offering different levels of engagement matters. What’s important to me is that the connection to real objects and people isn’t lost.

AJ. If you drew the blueprint for the museum of 2050, what would be in it, and what would you leave out?

TH. The ‘Origins of Life’ element is important to include in the story told at Origins Centre. Wits curates an amazing and vast fossil collection, which needs to be made available to the public for viewing and engaging with. Many people don’t realise the long fossil record that (South) Africa has, from the first single celled organisms and fossil plants to dinosaurs and therapsids. Importantly, the museum needs to remain a visual and sensory experience of our past, our connection with nature – which we are sometimes very removed from these days – and to foster ways of remembering, reinventing and growing connections with each other.

FROM THE INSIDE OF A MEMORY ENGINE: THE ORIGINS CENTRE AS A GLAM CASE STUDY: 14 October 2026, Fak'ugesi Digital & Innovation Festival: fakugesi.co.za

Ashraf Johaardien is the Writer in Residence at the Fak’ugesi African Digital & Innovation Festival 2026. His views are his own and do not represent those of the festival or its partners.

9 October 2026