Bergsonist 2016-Present | Photo: Courtesy of ISSUE Project Room, 2025

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, Sony and Tresor Records.

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

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@bergsonist

@selwaabd

Bergsonist, 2016-Present

Selwa started her Bergsonist project in 2014—a creative persona through which she explores and expresses her thoughts and emotions across multiple mediums, including sound design, visual art, design, writing, and activism.

Bergsonist is recognized for her contributions to film scoring, soundtrack commissions for contemporary artists, and pop/ experimental music production. She has notably remixed tracks for several artists, including Depeche Mode.

In her sound performances, she crafts intuitive soundscapes by layering manipulated sonic fragments with acoustic sounds. Blurring the lines between reality and virtuality, she explores speculative futures within the tensions of the present. Her work draws influence from musique concrète, electro-acoustic music, sound art, and minimalism.

She often combines her design and visual art background to enrich her live performances, reflecting her dedication to crafting immersive speculative worlds influenced by the context and politics of the times.

In her music productions, she delves into a variety of styles, ranging from dance genres like minimal, techno, and electronica to experimental music and musique concrete. Her vocals frequently feature prominently in her songs. She often sings in french and darija (moroccan dialect).

Selected Press

2025 | “As If Reality” A/V Performance | Batalha Centro De Cinema (Porto)

panelist ✿ | moderator

2025 | PUTF interview feat Laraaji at Dripping

2025 | Studio Demo: “Making Music With Machines” | Demo Festival x New Inc

2025 | Panel: “How to Organically Find New Music” | Libera NYC ✿
2024 | PUTF interview series

2025 Ode To Life
2024 Exploitation Occident
2024 Avant
2022 Fasting
2021 Virtualite
2021 Toxic Materialism
2019 Chaos
2018 Heat
2018 Solyaris
2017 Mutation

Soundcloud

NTS Radio Shows

Bandcamp

Mixcloud Archive

Portrait by Greg Zifcak, 2017

Original music for the film "Jmar", Samy Sidali, 2020

Official remix for Depeche Mode, 2023

Song commissioned by Tresor for their 30 year anniversary compilation, 2021

Soundtrack commissioned by Meriem Bennani for her show "Guided Tour Of A Spill", 2021

Soundtrack commissioned by Asif Mian for “Smokeless Fire”, 2022

A/V performance featuring Miho Hatori, commissioned by Roulette, 2023

Music composition for ISSUE project room, video by Greg Zifcak, 2020