The Denver Art Museum has added a Cheick Diallo functional art piece to its permanent collection.

The unique 2018 work, M’bé-yan II (I’m Here), was acquired during Untitled Art in Miami (December 2022) and is made from panels of recycled steel sourced from an informal market in Bamako where local craftsmen repurpose metal waste. The deceptively simple design of M’bé-yan II reimagines what a chair can be: in this case, at its essence, a box with two slanted panels inserted to form a backrest and seat.

Often cited as the “godfather” of African design, Cheick Diallo has become a major figure on the continent and is often cited as the first person to develop conceptual design in an African context. He has exhibited extensively all over the world and his work features in several other permanent collections including Musée Mandet (France); MAD Museum (US); Musée Fondation Dapper (France); Centre National d’art et de Culture Gorges Pompidou (France); Manchester Museum of Art, (UK); Brooklyn Museum (US); Vitra Design Museum (Germany); Philadelphia Museum of Art (US); and Musée du Grand Hornu (Belgium).