Cheick Diallo

Malian designer Cheick Diallo’s impeccable furniture and objects challenge common perceptions of African design with their mix of centuries-old craftsmanship and contemporary sensibility.

A creative risk-taker, Diallo trained as an architect at Ecole d’Architecture de Normandie in France. When Diallo returned to his home city of Bamako to establish his studio, deciding from the start to restrict himself to working only with local, “poor” materials and artisanal skills (he works mostly by hand). He and his team of craftsmen produce furniture and objects of impeccable finish that play ambiguously with the notion of luxury, manufacturing objects from everyday, locally-sourced detritus such as bottle tops, fishing wire, leather and old tyres.