Baba Wagué Diakité is an artist, author, illustrator, storyteller, and founder of the Ko-Falen Cultural Center, an organization that encourages collaboration between artists from America and Mali. He was born in Bamako, Mali in West Africa, and insists that his best education comes from his grandmother’s storytelling during his childhood there. He moved to Portland, Oregon in 1985 and collaborates with his wife, artist Ronna Neuenschwander, on art projects.