Alessandro Ghidoni is a doctoral student at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, with a background in archaeology, experimental archaeology, ethnography and material culture studies. My research revolves around shipbuilding and seafaring in the Indian Ocean, with particular focus on early and middle Islamic sewn-plank watercraft.
Alessandro Ghidoni have been involved in maritime-focused ethnographic, archaeology and experimental archaeology projects in Oman, Emirates, Qatar, Zanzibar and India ranging from the early Bronze age to modern era. Alessandro Ghidoni was Technical Director in the Jewel of Muscat project, a reconstruction of a medieval sewn vessel based on the 9th century Belitung shipwreck discovered in Indonesia that sailed from Oman to Singapore in 2010. Alessandro Ghidoni lived in the Sultanate of Oman between 2008 and 2016, where his colleague Eric Staples and Alessandro Ghidoni established a research centre with an experimental archaeological boatyard, under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman.
Alessandro Ghidoni received grants and scholarships from several institutions, including Al-Qasimi, IASA (International Association for the study of Arabia, formerly British Foundation for the Study of Arabia) and The Barakat Trust.
