Penda diakite biography of rory

Malian-American visual artist

Penda Diakité (born ) is a Malian-American visual artist known for her mixed-media collages and film work. Born in Portland, Oregon, she grew up between the United States and Mali, West Africa. Diakité's work explores black female identity, often tying in historical West African culture and traditions.

Background and education

Diakité was born in in Portland, Oregon to artists Baba Wagué Diakité (ceramicist and author) and Ronna Neuenschwander (sculptor).

She grew up between the United States and Mali, West Africa where she spent much of her time in her parents’ art studio creating alongside them and learning West African history and traditional Malian arts such as bogolanfini.

At age 11 she published her first children’s book, I Lost My Tooth In Africa with Scholastic Press which was later featured o