Origins Centre and SABC3 will present the first flighting of a three-part television series on the San, rock art and the origins of art on September 7 at 18h00.

Episode 1 - The Will to Survive locates the San experience against the backdrop of colonial genocide and dispossession and the post-colonial human rights struggles of San communities in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

Episode 2 - Cracking the Code. Ancient, enigmatic and mysterious - rock art intrigues everyone. However, coming as it does from a vanished way of life, its message has long been considered obscure and for years it has been subject to many interpretations. This film tells the story of the detective work by David Lewis-Williams that led to the approach that unlocks the true meaning behind the art.

Episode 3 - The Origins of Art. The earliest evidence of humans making marks that have a meaning were found on the Cape south coast recently and date back to 75,000 years ago. In searching for the origin of image-making and art, this film discovers that the first artists were trying to lock down hallucinations they experienced in altered states of consciousness when they made the first art.

The series is produced by Guy Spiller and Francis Gerard and directed by Richard Wicksteed and Guy Spiller.