Raw Material Company is a center for art, knowledge and society established in Dakar, Senegal in 2008. It is an art initiative involved with exhibition-making, commissioning, knowledge sharing, and the archiving of theory and criticism. It works to foster appreciation and growth of African artistic and intellectual creativity. The program is trans-disciplinary and is informed equally by urbanity, literature, film, architecture, politics, fashion, cuisine, and diaspora. The core of Raw Material Company is the resource centre, RAWBASE, a discursive program of artist talks, portfolio review sessions, master-classes, symposia, lectures, panel and round-table discussions as well as research presentations. RAWBASE is directed to a national and international audience, and it aims at establishing an extensive educational and research library/archive on contemporary art with an emphasis on African and Africa-related practices.