Devyani Saltzman is a Canadian writer, curator and multidisciplinary cultural programmer. She works as the Principal of her own independent cultural strategy firm and previously held senior positions in three of Canada's major cultural institutions, most recently as the Director of Public Programming at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Early life and education

Devyani Saltzman was born in 1979, the granddaughter of the late Canadian weatherman

Percy Saltzman Percy Philip Saltzman, (March 15, 1915 – January 15, 2007) was a meteorologist and television personality best remembered for being the first weatherman in English-speaking Canadian television history. As a pioneer in weather forecasting, ...

and the daughter of film directors

Paul Saltzman Paul Saltzman (born 1943) is a Canadian film and television producer and director. A two-time Emmy Award-recipient, he has been credited on more than 300 films, both dramas and documentaries. The 2008 documentary feature, ''Prom Night in Mississi ...

and Deepa Mehta.Deepa MehtaBiography
Notable Biographies Paul Saltzman, her father, is Jewish Ukrainian; her mother Indian Hindu. They separated when she was 11 years old. Saltzman received her degree in Human Sciences from

Hertford College Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The coll ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 2003. She specialized in sociology and anthropology. She grew up on film and television sets, and was the recipient of the Young Professionals International Internship grant to work on a feature-length documentary in India.

Writing career

Devyani Saltzman is the author of ''Shooting Water: A Memoir of Second Chances, Family, and Filmmaking'', as well as articles for The

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it f ...

, The

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

, The Literary Review of Canada, the Atlantic, Tehelka, Marie Claire, Room literary journal and The Walrus Magazine. Her debut book ''Shooting Water: A Memoir of Second Chances, Family, and Filmmaking'' details the making of her mother, Deepa Mehta’s, third film in her “Elements” trilogy, entitled ''Water''. It was published in Canada (2005), the US and India and received "starred reviews" in both ''Publishers Weekly'' and the ''Library Journal'' and was called 'A poignant memoir' by ''The New York Times''. Her freelance writing subjects include interviews with

Pico Iyer Siddharth Pico Raghavan Iyer (born 11 February 1957), known as Pico Iyer, is a British-born essayist and novelist known chiefly for his travel writing. He is the author of numerous books on crossing cultures including ''Video Night in Kathmand ...

Sarah Polley Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian actress,Howell, Peter (September 24, 1999)"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft she can thumb her nose at Hollywood" ''Tor ...

Floria Sigismondi Floria Sigismondi (, born 1965) is an Italian-Canadian film director, screenwriter, music video director, artist, and photographer. She is best known for writing and directing ''The Runaways'', for directing music videos for performers includin ...

and articles on India, long-term care facilities and immigrant domestic workers.

Current projects - Curator/Director, AGO

Saltzman is the founding curator, literary programming, at

Luminato Luminato Festival, Toronto's International Festival of Arts and Ideas, is an annual celebration of the arts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, launched in 2007. In its first decade, Luminato presented over 3,000 performances featuring 11,000 artists fr ...

, Toronto's Festival of Arts and Creativity and has been involved in a number of arts initiatives including Project Bookmark Canada, The Toronto Museum Project as well as being a juror for the National Magazine Awards, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction. In 2014 she was appointed Director of Literary Arts at

Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

, Canada's national arts hub, where she oversaw year-round programming and public events. In 2018 she was appointed Director of Public Programming for the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Awards and Governance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saltzman, Devyani Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Canadian memoirists Canadian art curators Canadian people of Indian descent Canadian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women journalists Living people Canadian women memoirists Canadian women curators