Rajae

On March 8th, during International women’s day, singer Rajae El Mouhandiz (1979) will release her new single titled 'Gracefully'. At the same time she will premiere her first short documentary titled ¡HOPE! during the launch of a groundbreaking international group exhibition.

Muslima

The exhibition is a collaboration between four international museums in Denmark, the U.S., the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. The work of sixty Muslim female artists and thinkers, all with different opinions, will be exhibited. Rajae is the only Dutch artist who was selected for the exhibition titled 'Muslima'. Several cultural, social and political issues will be discussed in their multidisciplinary work. Rajae's short film, photographs, poems, single and video will be exhibited and she will continue to create work throughout the year for the exhibition as well as discussing and developing two specific themes.

One of the 500 most influential Muslims

In November 2012, Rajae was nominated again as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. For the last four years she was listed as the only contemporary singer amongst artists such as Mos Def, Sharukh Khan, Dave Chapelle, Sami Yusuf, Maher Zain and Youssou N'Dour. This list is a publication of The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Jordan and is led by the King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al Saud. According to Rajae more female artists should be listed.

New Single

Last fall Rajae visited Austin and Hollywood for a month to record and film a new single and video for her third album. The result is a timeless song titled Gracefully, a carefree song about loyalty, love and friendship with a Pop, Soul and Jazz sound. She has also created remixes for a wider audience. The music video was filmed at a beautiful location in Mulholland Canyon in Los Angeles.

Film

Rajae has also embarked on a new challenge: her acting debut in a short film. The short film, titled ¡HOPE! was developed last summer in Amsterdam and Barcelona by production companies Wicked Stylish & Creative Artistic and the postproduction has recently been completed. In the film Rajae uses image, emotion, storytelling and music. She talks about typecasting, but also about dogmas in the conservative Islamic and western world. Rajae's goal is to create acceptance of Muslim women in the music industry and in the performing arts. She believes that it’s time that this group of artists receive support. They represent a large audience and are (un)consciously placed in a shadow.

Launch

On March 8th, Rajae will present her new single and short film during Lifestyle & Fashion Event EXCEPTION II, which will takes place at podium Mozaiek in Amsterdam. On January 19th Rajae will have her first solo concert at the Istanbul Culture and Art Centre in Turkey. She will perform for an audience of 750 people and will sing her own repertoire, accompanied by Coen Molenaar on piano. Rajae's third album will be released later in 2013.