Malian designer Cheick Diallo’s 2018 M’be yan II (I’m Here) and ceramic artist Andile Dyalvane's 2020 iKhaya (Home) are currently on show in By Design: Stories and Ideas Behind Objects at the Denver Art Museum. The artworks were acquired by the museum in 2022 and 2021 respectively, which has one of the most comprehensive modern and contemporary design collections of any preeminent museum in the US.

The one-of-a-kind M’be yan II is a functional artwork made from recycled steel - a scrap material easy to source in Mali. The metal rectangles, which vary in size and color, are arranged in a patchwork that calls attention to the material’s reclaimed nature. M’be yan II exemplifies the range of works that Diallo produces in Mali’s bustling capital of Bamako. His main concern is not economy; rather he is on a kind of archaeological quest for locally available materials and their special properties for which he finds novel applications in his designs. “I don’t have an interest in design if it is only to remake that which already exists,” he says.

Dyalvane's piece iKhaya forms part of his ground-breaking 2020 body of seating titled iThongo (meaning "ancestral dreamscape"). This refers to the medium through which messages (uYalezo uLwimi lwabaPhantsi) are transmitted from the ancestors. The work was first presented in Dyalvane’s rural homestead in Ngobozana, Eastern Cape, where his family and extended community had the opportunity to experience it before it was shown at Southern Guild Cape Town, followed by Friedman Benda (NYC).

Dyalvane says about the work: "Home is, in essence, familiarity. Feelings of a greater extension of yourself as part of an important energy. My family and community and various creative callings guided by my ancestry has gifted me with home. Ngobozana Village is where the earth will receive me into her womb and where I dance with heart to a familiar drum beat."

A series of thematic installations drawn primarily from the museum's architecture and design collection illustrates the abundance and versatility of approaches to design, while at the same time asks “what shapes design?” Design is all around us taking various shapes and forms, shaping our lives in fundamental ways.

The curatorial outline states: “The motivations behind these designs are as diverse as their creators. Unusual or newly available materials invite vigorous experimentation. The form of an object can solve problems, serve its users, and improve efficiency. Methods of production can range from handcrafted to digital fabrication. Personal, subjective, and time-bound ideas can be expressed through design. Whatever the approach, they spark a deeper understanding and appreciation of design.”

By Design is the inaugural exhibition in the Amanda J. Precourt Galleries of Denver Art Museum’s Martin Building, dedicated to showcasing objects from its architecture and design collection consisting of more than 18,000 objects dating from the 1500s to the present.