Albino Jopela: visiting researcher at IAKH Mobile researcher: Albino Jopela:, South Africa

Mr Jopela's research focus is of particular interest to several archaeologists at IAKH. His studies of rock art and issues of conservation and management systems of heritage in southern Africa, particularly in Mozambique and South Africa, intersect with t he academic interest of Scandinavian colleagues? work on the ways in which archaeological sites play roles as prominent places in cultural heritage. In particular, Mr Jopela and colleagues at IAKH share the academic interest in how archaeological sites pr ovide insight into the cosmology of past societies and also in how contemporary communities relate to this cosmology and to these places. An example of this ongoing and long-term commitment at IAKH is the international seminar Cosmopolitan Heritage: Appro aches to World Archaeology in a Scandinavian Context to be held in September 2012. Jopela will be invited to present aspects of his work at the seminar, and subsequently to participate at a workshop on Cosmopolitan Heritage to be held in Oslo during the r esearch visit in 2013. By inviting Jopela IAKH combines two prominent areas of expertise and long-term commitment, namely heritage issues in southern Africa and rock art. Hereby they may also combine more closely the efforts of people working in differen t geographical areas and on topics from different periods of the human past. With Mr Jopela's visit IAKH expects to strengthen and expand its ties to research milieus in southern Africa in general and to RARI and Wits in particular. Also, a long-term be nefit for IAKH is a more direct involvement in the future archaeological exploration of Mozambique, one of the fastest growing economies on the African continent.