Coumba & Lafia Chair – Cheick Diallo

Cheick Diallo, a Malian designer, has become a prominent figure in Africa over the past two decades and is recognized as the first person to develop conceptual design in an African context. His furniture designs are inspired by the traditional day-to-day trades of West African cities, particularly Bamako. These trades include silver forgery, tannery, weaving, textile dyeing, and scrap metal processing.

Coumba Chair

I don’t have an interest in design if it is only to remake that which already exists.

LAFIA CHAIR

Diallo’s Coumba and Lafia chairs are covered in large continuous sections of tie-dyed leather, with round dark marks that resemble the apertures of the chairs. Diallo employs a contemporary perspective on long-established craft forms, utilizing them in new and unique ways to produce highly original designs.