Umberto Bongianino is Samir Shamma Associate Professor in Islamic Numismatics, Epigraphy and Material Culture at the Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford. He is also a Postdoctoral Researcher for the ERC-funded project Documenting Multiculturalism: Co-existence, law and multiculturalism in the administrative and legal documents of Norman and Hohenstaufen Sicily (University of Oxford and Università degli Studi di Palermo). His research and publications focus on Arabic epigraphy, palaeography, the aesthetic of inscribed objects, and the arts of the book in the western Islamic world. His recent monograph is titled The Manuscript Tradition of the Islamic West: Maghribī Round Scripts and the Andalusī Identity(Edinburgh University Press, 2022).

As a member of CallFront, Umberto is contributing to the study and reappraisal of the rich yet neglected calligraphic traditions of Northwest Africa (the Maghrib), as evidenced in luxury manuscripts, chancery documents, and inscriptions on a wide variety of media, from metalwork to textiles.