Baba Wagué Diakité

Malian, b. 1961

Diakité experimented with drawing throughout his childhood in his native Mali, but he was introduced to ceramics by his wife, the American artist Ronna Neuenschwander, whom he met when she was traveling in his country. After moving with Neuenschwander to Portland, Oregon, he became a practicing artist and art educator. In addition to small-scale ceramics, Diakité has created ceramic murals and used ceramic tiles to illustrate his children’s books, including The Hunterman and the Crocodile, which received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor in 1997.