Bio in French // Bio in Norwegian
Malika Makouf Rasmussen (Norway/Algeria/France) is a critically acclaimed composer, musician and music producer and a philosopher. Incorporating a variety of African and Western instruments blended with electronic sounds forms the sole foundation for her music. She has performed extensively throughout Europe and Africa. She has staged numerous festivals and music venues across the world including Olympia (Paris), Harare International Music and Film Festival, Tune In (Stockholm), MELA (Oslo), Great Bear (New York), Vanløse Kulturhus (Copenhagen), for full list see Calendar. Her music is used by dance companies, filmmakers and theatre events around the world: Mechanix Film (Norway), Laila Pakalnina (Lithuania), Roberto Salaorni Dance Studio (Rome), Reva Zane (Los Angeles), Drammen Teater (Norway) to mention some. She also lectures and publishes articles in the area of cultural and political philosophy and arts.
Her story begins in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, known for the glistening white of its building (nicknamed El-Bahdja or Alger la Blanche – Algiers the white») situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea. Malika is born in 1965 to french-algerian-norwegian parents. Later on the family spent a year in Budapest, Hungary, before Malika moved to Norway with her mother and brother -launched into a world of distinct seasons far from, but no less beautiful than North Africa.
Malika started playing the classical guitar nine years old and later moved on to the electric bass. Today she plays a several numbers of instruments and has been focusing on the traditional African Gimbre, also called Sintir for the past years. In the age of fifteen she went spending a year with her father in Paris. Returning to Norway she settled on her own in Fredrikstad -a small town near the capital Oslo, started playing in different bands in the area, and at nineghteen graduated from Greåker Music College. She later went on to Høgskolen i Telemark (college) and The Academy of Music in Oslo for music and cultural studies.
During late 80s Malika lived in Paris, attracted by the creative friction that arises between people of different backgrounds. Her professional music career started in France and by the time she made Oslo her homebase in 1991, she had been touring across Europe and North Africa, had several CDs, radio-and TV shows on her résumé. In Oslo she began developing her own projects besides working as a session musician for recordings, TV and theatre. In 1999 she founded the Women’s Voice International Music Network consisting of women from different parts of the world. The aim of the project is to bring to light gifted composers, musicians and songwriters and at the same time form a living network of performers. Malika went back to Paris in 2010 where she has created and launched the philosophy and arts salon Parisersalongene.
Malika has participated in numerous recordings and released four solo albums: Exit Cairo (2006), On Club (2008), Urbanized (2010) and So Easy So High (2012). Her music has been described as contemporary music with a mature sensibility and the latest pulse to come out of the the emerging crossover scene (BBC, France Inter).
Besides Women’s Voice, she is the founder of the concert organiser, curator and artist network Global Oslo Music, the record labels New Music and Global Sonics. The companies collaborates with people in art-direction, management, producing and booking and utilizes a network of independent distributors of music and art world wide.
As a writer, she has contributed art articles and topical essays for numerous magazines.