Atlas of Uncertainty | Launch Issue

Dear Friends,

Three weeks ago, Atlas of Uncertainty launched in Johannesburg to a full house, and over 650 people saw the show in the first week. Thank you for coming along this journey with us.

Since then, the project has travelled through conversations, gatherings, and new encounters. The exhibition remains open until 3 July 2026 at the Origins Centre, Wits University, and a newly launched website now opens the project to audiences across the world.

Visitors gathered during the Atlas of Uncertainty opening night — On opening night a full house gathered at the Origins Centre as the Windybrow Césaire group brought performance, presence, and collective energy.

Explore the digital Atlas

Designed and built by Serggio Montilva, the website brings together contributors, artists, essays, maps, data, and urban stories in one digital space. It offers a way to move through the project at your own pace and from your own location.

You can trace routes through the survey data, follow trajectories across cities, and encounter the project through different entry points — a place, a person, a journey, an artwork, an essay, a conversation. Like the Atlas, this website will continue to grow, host our community and gather new ideas.

Visit the website

Artists and collaborators standing together at the exhibition — A joyful moment with some of the artists and collaborators whose work and presence have shaped the Atlas.

What they’re saying

“A part of an extraordinary study of modern African cities — the exhibition fashioned as a series of maps and other pieces by artists across the continent. Something special, both evocative and provocative.”

Ferial Haffajee at the Daily Maverick

“We were blown away at the exhibition opening for ‘Atlas of Uncertainty’ at @originscentre_wits and are already planning our second, and third, trip to see it. It's on until July so make sure to schedule it in!”

@JohannesburgInYourPocket

“At a moment when so much of the world feels politically, socially, and economically uncertain, the Atlas asks us to question what we are witnessing around us, and to reflect on whose stories, knowledge, and experiences are often overlooked in conversations about cities, migration, and the future.”

Laveza Khan

“The question is not how to build community in these cities. It is how to recognise, resource, and amplify the community that is already building itself.”

Chantel Akworkor Thompson

Recent coverage about Atlas:

Visit the exhibition

If you are in Johannesburg — or know people who are — there is still time to experience the exhibition in person.

Project Atlas of Uncertainty

Dates Now showing until 3 July 2026

Location Origins Centre, Wits University, Johannesburg

Please share this invitation with friends, colleagues, and communities who may want to visit.

Follow the journey on social media

We’re continuing to share artworks, contributors, and moments from the exhibition across our social channels. Please follow along and share with your networks.

Visitors moving through artworks and films in the Atlas galleries — Visitors moved through artworks, films, maps, essays, and conversations across the galleries.

A visitor standing near large-scale textile work in the exhibition — A quiet encounter with scale, texture, and reflection.

Photographs by Koloti Moji (@jstaura__)

With warm wishes,
The Atlas of Uncertainty team