End of Sabbatical Year

After a fruitful sabbatical year, RAW Material Company is pleased to welcome you again in its space in Sicap Amitié 2 and in its new space in Zone B. A special programme of events—workshops, performances, exhibitions, in situ works, talks and lectures—will take place from April 27 to June 5, 2016 on the occasion of Dak’art, the 12th edition of the Biennial of Contemporary African Art (May 3–June 2, 2016). 

New space
RAW Material Company worked with young Senegalese architect, Carole Diop, on the renovation of a 1950s residential home of modernist inspiration in the historic district Zone B in midtown Dakar. This house is our second address; an extension of the space at Sicap Amitié 2, which we are turning into residency and studio spaces for young art school graduates. The new site is dedicated to the forthcoming, RAW Academy, an experimental study program for art and curatorial practices. It will also be the location for our continued program of exhibitions, art and societal debate, publishing and library activities. It allows us to present more ambitious projects and engage with educational institutions in the neighbourhood. These include the University Cheikh Anta Diop, School of Library Science, College of Architecture, Higher Institute of Management, British Council, and last but not least, the legendary high schools Lycée Blaise Diagne and Lycée John F. Kennedy. Both later institutions have educated multiple generations of leaders since the early 1960s. The renovation of this space is the point of departure from which we wish to develop a debate on the politics of architecture and urban planning in African cities. 

THE DAKAR DRAWING by Dan Perjovschi
Opening: Wednesday, May 4, 7pm
Zone B 
Exhibition runs from May 5–June 5
In partnership with the Embassy of Romania 

Born in 1961 in Romania, Dan Perjovschi lives and works in Sibiu and Bucharest. He is known for his very personal use of drawing, that he transforms into object, performance and installation. He uses humour, satire and subversion to address contemporary political and social issues. For several years now, he has been producing his drawings in an unplanned way in the exhibition spaces in which he is invited, letting general news as well as local and global concerns determine the final result. Perjovschi produces a new work, The Dakar Drawing that will spread over both spaces. The work is a visual rendering of his residency in Dakar as well as his optic translation of the programmatic essence of our organisation. 

carte blanche to Afrikadaa 
Listener’s Digest – Razor (creolisation) Mix – Say it Loud
Opening: Wednesday, May 4, 7pm
DJ sets and bar from 9:30pm
Zone B space
Exhibition runs from May 5–June 5 

POLITICS OF SOUND, the 10th issue of the online art, design and architectue review Afrikadaa focused on the political implications of contemporary sound practices in Africa and its diaspora. This carte blanche is a visual display of the content of this issue through the production of Listener’s Digest, a sound review on vinyl in a limited edition with works by Louisa Barbari, Julien Creuzet, Frédéric Mathevet, Célio Paillard, and Arthur Simonini. It further includes Razor (creolisation) Mix, a sound piece made of a juxtaposition of sound works and texts, by Younes Baba Ali, Frieda Ekotto, and Lotte Løvholm among others. The installation is rounded up with Say it Loud, an interactive sound work by artist Satch Hoyt. Parallel to this, the review prints a selection of the most crucial articles from this special issue. 

Decolonizing Knowledge—Artists talk to philosophers 
A programme of debates and lectures led by Seloua Luste Boulbina
May 3–8
Zone B space 

The production of discourse has become more of a component than a complement of artistic practice. This serie of critical conversations and presentations continue a colloquium at Collège International de Philosophie, in Paris, led by philosopher and political scientist Seloua Luste Boulbina. Three main concerns were its starting point. First, the idea that the postcolonial is made of “entre-mondesî”—worlds in between—rather than different worlds activated by migrations. Secondly, the idea that in these “entre-mondes,” artists, writers and philosophers who contribute to the different processes of decolonization of the imaginaries and logics can be seen as deterritorialized producers of meaning. Thirdly, the transition from theoretical practice to artistic practice allows a greater understanding of the decolonization of knowledge in all its complexity. 

This programme is held in French with sporadic translation into English.

Tuesday, May 3, 4pm
Kader Attia 
Addressing current events

Thursday, May 5, 4pm
Julien Creuzet 
Le portrait paysage

Friday, May 6, 4pm 
Barthélémy Toguo 
History from below

Saturday, May 7, 4pm 
Jean-François Boclé 
Bandung and after?
followed by the screening of the video Le voyage à Bandung

Sunday, May 8, 4pm
Hela Ammar 
Gender (in) Politics

LE CONGRES DE MINUIT—Midnight Congress 
an evening of performances with Issa Samb and Ican Ramageli
Tuesday, May 10, from 10pm 
Atelier Issa Samb - Laboratoire Agit’ART
17, rue Jules Ferry - Dakar 

ICI – Curatorial Intensive in Dakar
May 30–June 5
Zone B space
Closed session for selected participants only
In partnership with RAW Material Company, ICI organizes a Curatorial Intensive in Dakar. With this fourth Intensive in Africa—following past programs in Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, and Marrakech—ICI maintains its commitment to supporting the development of curatorial practice and international networks in Africa. This ICI program was conceived in collaboration with Koyo Kouoh. The Curatorial Intensive, a weeklong professional development program, offers curators the opportunity to discuss, among colleagues, the concepts, logistics, and challenges of organizing exhibitions, public programs, and other curatorial models. In addition, the Curatorial Intensive will expose participants to the historically vibrant art scene of Dakar, a city known as one of the major sites for artistic and intellectual production in Africa. Seminars, site visits, individual meetings, and roundtable discussions will be led by a group of international and local professionals including Nancy Adadjania, Babacar Mbaye Diop, Riason Naidoo, El Hadj Malick Ndiaye, Franklin Simans, among others.
Find out more here. 

About RAW Material Company
RAW Material Company is a center for art, knowledge and society established in Dakar, Senegal in 2008. It is an art initiative involved with curatorial practice, artistic education, residencies, knowledge production, and the archiving of theory and criticism on art. It works to foster appreciation and growth of artistic and intellectual creativity in Africa. The program is trans-disciplinary and is informed equally by literature, film, architecture, politics, fashion, cuisine, and diaspora.