Muhammad Z. Zaman is a Buffalo-based, urban artist, specializing in calligraphy. Using language and text as cultural signifier, Zaman layers English, Bengali, and Arabic into richly-textured canvases. His canvas paintings and wall murals layer powerful messages onto seemingly borderless fields, inspiring viewers to learn from each other in harmony and mutual understanding.

Through an ongoing partnership between Buffalo Arts Studio and Open Buffalo, Zaman was selected as the 2018 Open Buffalo Emerging Artist. This ongoing, annual exhibition is dedicated to an emerging artist whose work relates to and reflects the mission of Open Buffalo, which is to make major, long-term improvements in justice and equity in the City of Buffalo.