Sahar Zaman is currently
working as an independent arts journalist, TV presenter and art curator.
She was a founding member of
CNN IBN (CNN India - one of the top national English News channels) and worked
there as a senior news anchor and arts correspondent. With about a decade of
work experience in the television news industry as an arts journalist, she has extensively
covered art in terms of the art market, art insurance issues, art trends, art
restoration, and also special issues like the fake art market. She is the only
arts journalist in India to
have done a sting operation (which includes the use of a spy camera) on the
fake art market in India,
where she was offered a fake MF Husain at the price of Rs.1 crore.
Ms
Zaman regularly writes for magazines (Art&Deal, Tehelka), online websites (artconcerns.com)
and newsletters such as her essay titled the 'The evolution of
art journalism in India' for the India Art Summit
newsletter in Aug 2009.
She was invited to Pakistan to
screen her shows on Indian art in Pakistani universities and art centres. She
was also interviewed by their national news channel Dawn News and TV1. In Sri Lanka, she
was invited for a special Indo-Sinhalese art camp during which she was
interviewed by their national networks like Young Asia TV, Daily Times and
Sunday Mirror. She has written extensively about her impressions on the Sri
Lankan the contemporary art scene since
the LTTE War.
In 2010 she traveled to Australia
following reports in the media about the alleged racist attacks on Indian students in that
country and has written extensively on Indian art periodicals about her
experiences there in a spirit of reconciliation.
As a news anchor, having been
in the thick of breaking news like the General Elections of India 2009, the
military offensive in Sri Lanka, Pakistan's war on terror, Copenhagen Summit on
Climate Change, the alleged racist attacks in Australia, etc., Ms Zaman has an
in-depth understanding of world issues to be able to connect them with art.
At present, she does an art show for Bloomberg UTV called Art Wise, writes art columns for Tehelka, Art & Deal. She curates art shows on news worthy issues.
WORK EXPEREINCE
- Worked
with CNN IBN, as senior news anchor and arts correspondent (Aug 2005 - Apr
2010)
- Worked
with DD News as anchor-reporter for an arts and culture show (2005)
- Worked
in Headlines Today as Assistant Producer-Reporter for Arts (2004)
- A
short freelancing stint at DD India and DD Sports as anchor and
script-writer.
- Worked
at Asian News International (ANI) as reporter, anchor and producer for
various cultural shows and news bulletins beamed to Washington
(Channel 56) and London
(Sony London) (2002 -2003)
- Scripted
and presented programs for All India Radio's General Overseas Service. She was a regular reporter for 'The Art Scene in India' covering art events in Delhi
(2001)
