Selwa Abd aka Bergsonist is a Moroccan-born, New York–based multimedia artist, composer, performer, and design researcher whose work is informed by media theory. Her interdisciplinary practice spans live performance, sound composition, video, installation, and recorded music.
A recipient of the Issue Project Room Residency (2022), the Harvestworks Technology Immersion Fellowship (2022), the Jerome Hill Artist Alternate Award (2023), the NYFA x Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment Women Fund Grant (2024), and the NYSCA x Roulette Intermedium Artist Grant (2025). Her work has been presented at MoMA PS1, Roulette, Moogfest, EKKO Festival, Mutek Festival, Sonic Acts Festival, Batalha Centro de Cinema, Amant and The Brooklyn Film Festival. Her practice has been recognized by The Washington Post, BOMB Magazine, GQ, Resident Advisor, Mixmag Mena, NPR and Artforum.
Her work engages the reconfiguration of archival material — found sounds, processed sounds, and live video — into immersive environments and recorded music. Drawing on electroacoustic and musique concrète traditions and informed by Gilles Deleuze's interpretation of Henri Bergson, she employs electronics, DIY instruments, and signal processing (granular and spectral techniques) to examine postcolonial identity, techno-futurism, and the psychological effects of virtuality in contemporary culture.
Intuition serves as both a critical and operative framework throughout her practice. Alongside her artistic work, she maintains a research interest in media theory, using sound as a lens for examining how time, memory, and perception are mediated in contemporary technological culture.
In performance, her work blurs distinctions between the real and the virtual, proposing speculative temporalities while confronting the tensions of the present.
Her recent projects — including ASL أصل ⴰⵙⵍ and As If Reality — expand her sonic practice into more complex archival and visual frameworks.
She has collaborated extensively across contemporary art and experimental music contexts, and has produced remixes for artists including Depeche Mode.
Her discography spans over a decade, comprising more than 7 albums, 15 EPs, and numerous featured releases on labels including Optimo Music, Columbia Records, Dark Entries and Tresor Records.
Abd is equally committed to community infrastructure and curatorial work. She is the founder of Pick Up The Flow, an NYC-based community resource for artists, and BIZAARBAZAAR, an independent publishing imprint.
She has been an NTS Radio DJ resident since 2018 and has curated music and events for projects including 3afak and various label compilations. She has also hosted and produced the PUTF podcast, featuring interviews with artists, curators, and creatives. Her curatorial practice is an ongoing and integral dimension of her work.
She has been invited to speak about her practice at Moogfest, MoMA PS1, and New Inc’s Demo Festival, and has served as a guest in classes at The New School, CalArts, and Pratt.
She holds a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design
(The New School).
Short bio:
Selwa Abd, known as Bergsonist, is a Moroccan-born, New York-based multimedia artist and composer. Her interdisciplinary practice, spanning performance, sound, video, and installation, draws on electroacoustic and musique concrète traditions to explore postcolonial identity, techno-futurism, and the psychology of virtuality. She is also the founder of Pick Up The Flow, a resource for artists, and has been a resident DJ on NTS Radio since 2018.
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