Selwa Abd is a Moroccan-born, New York–based interdisciplinary artist, composer and design researcher working under the alias Bergsonist.
Her practice engages
time-based media, sound, and performance, focusing on the reconfiguration of archival material –found sounds, processed sounds, and live video– into immersive audiovisual environments.
Drawing on electroacoustic and musique concrète traditions, and informed by Gilles Deleuze’s interpretation of Henri Bergson, her work employs electronics, DIY instruments, granular and spectral techniques to examine postcolonial identity, techno-futurism, and the psychological and perceptual effects of virtuality in contemporary culture.
Her methodology foregrounds intuition as a critical and operative framework through which these inquiries are developed.
In performance contexts, her work blurs distinctions between the real and the virtual, proposing speculative temporalities while confronting the tensions of the present.
Drawing on her design background, she complements her sonic tapestry by creating more complex archival frameworks, as seen in her latest projects such as ASL and As If Reality.
Abd has collaborated extensively with artists across contemporary art and experimental music contexts. Her compositions have been presented in contemporary art exhibitions and institutional settings, and she has produced remixes for musical artists, including Depeche Mode.
With a career spanning over a decade, she has been invited to speak about her practice and community projects, as well as to serve as an interviewer following her work on the PUTF podcast, on panels in NYC including Moogfest, MoMA PS1, and New Inc, and in classes at The New School, CalArts, and Pratt.
She has curated musical and non-musical events for projects such as Bizaarbazaar, Pick Up the Flow, and 3afak, as well as for compilations she/other labels have released. Her curatorial work is an ongoing and integral part of her practice, often operating quietly in the background.
She is a recipient of the NYSCA x Roulette Artist Grant (2025), NYFA x Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment’s Women Fund Grant (2024), The Jerome Hill Artist Alternate Award (2023), the Issue Project Room Residency (2022) and Harvestworks Technology Immersion Program Grant & Fellowship (2022).
Selwa has shown works at MOMA Ps1, Roulette, Moogfest , National Sawdust, EKKO Festival, Mutek Festival, Sonic Arts Festival, Issue Project Room x The Center for Performance Research, Basilica Hudson, Fridman Gallery, The James Gallery, 47 Canal, Batalha Centro De Cinema and The Brooklyn Film Festival to name a few.
Selwa has earned recognition from outlets including The Washington Post, BOMB Magazine, GQ, Resident Advisor, Mixmag Mena, NPR and Artforum.
Her discography spans over a decade, including more than 7 albums, 15 EPs, and countless featured tracks on various compilations.
Her music has been released on labels such as Optimo Music, Columbia Records and Tresor Records, and a forthcoming album on Dark Entries.
Selwa is the founder of the NYC based community resource Pick Up The Flow and the publishing imprint BIZAARBAZAAR.
She's been a NTS Radio DJ resident since 2018.
⤷ contact
⤷ cv
⤷ linktree