Selwa Abd, also known as Bergsonist, is a Moroccan-born, New York–based multimedia artist, composer, performer, and researcher. Her practice spans live performance, audio-video installation, sound composition, and recorded music.
Abd has received the Issue Project Room Residency, the Harvestworks Technology Immersion Fellowship, the Jerome Hill Artist Alternate Award, the NYFA x Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment Women’s Fund Grant, and the NYSCA x Roulette Intermedium Artist Grant. 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. It has been covered by The Washington Post, BOMB Magazine, GQ, Resident Advisor, Mixmag Mena, NPR, and Artforum.
Her work reconfigures 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 reading of Henri Bergson, she works with electronics, DIY instruments, and signal processing, including granular and spectral techniques. Through these she examines postcolonial identity, techno-futurism, and the psychological effects of virtuality in contemporary culture.
Intuition is both a critical and an operative framework in her practice, and her research in media theory uses sound as a lens on how time, memory, and perception are mediated by technology. In performance, she blurs the line between the real and the virtual, proposing speculative temporalities while confronting the tensions of the present.
Her recent projects, ASL أصل ⴰⵙⵍ and As If Reality, extend her sonic practice into larger archival and visual frameworks.
Her discography spans more than a decade, with over seven albums, fifteen EPs, and numerous features on labels including Optimo Music, Borft Records, Columbia Records, Dark Entries, and Tresor Records. She has also remixed artists including Depeche Mode and collaborated widely across contemporary art and experimental music.
Curation and community-building are integral to her work. Abd founded Pick Up The Flow, an NYC-based community resource for artists, and BIZAARBAZAAR, an independent publishing imprint.
She has been an NTS Radio resident since 2018, has curated events and label compilations, and hosts and produces the PUTF podcast, featuring conversations with NYC-based artists, curators, and creatives.
She has spoken about her practice at BEK, Moogfest, MoMA PS1, and has been 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 (~93 words):
Selwa Abd, aka Bergsonist, is a Moroccan-born, New York–based multimedia artist, composer/performer, and researcher. Working across live performance, audio-video installation, and recorded music, she reconfigures archival material into immersive environments, drawing on musique concrète and media theory to explore postcolonial identity, techno-futurism, and the psychological effects of virtuality in contemporary culture.
Her work has been presented at MoMA PS1, Roulette, MUTEK, and Sonic Acts, and released on Dark Entries, Optimo Music, and Tresor. She is the founder of Pick Up The Flow and BIZAARBAZAAR, and has been an NTS Radio resident since 2018.
Micro bio (~52 words):
Selwa Abd, aka Bergsonist, is a Moroccan-born, New York–based multimedia artist, composer/performer, and researcher. Her live performances, installations, and recordings reconfigure archival sound into immersive environments exploring postcolonial identity, techno-futurism and mediated perception.
Her work has been presented at MoMA PS1, Roulette and MUTEK, and released on Optimo Music and Dark Entries.
contact cv
@bergsonist
@selwaabd
Artist CV
Selwa Abd / Bergsonist
(b. 1992, Casablanca)
Lives and works in New York City.
Education:
Parsons School Of Design - The New School, BFA in Communication Design (Magna Cum Laude)
Harvestworks & Blankforms (Internships)
Selected Solo Shows/Performances:
2026—Playback 0030, e-flux Bar Laika, NYC
2025—ASL أصل ⴰⵙⵍ A/V performance, Roulette Intermedium, NYC
2025—As If Reality Part III A/V performance, Batalha Centro De Cinema, Porto
2022—As If Reality Part II, ISSUE Project Room & Center for Performance Research, NYC
2022—As If Reality Part I, ISSUE Project Room & Harvestworks, Governors Island, NYC
Selected Group Shows/Performances:
2026—Pre-screening DJ set for the movie “Bouchra” by Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, Socrates Sculpture Park, NYC
2026—Electro-acoustic performance with G. ZIFCAK, In the back, NYC
2026—Performance as one of 200 cymbalists in EYE's A/R/C, The Watermill Center, NYC
2026—Electro-acoustic performance 9ra9eb with G. ZIFCAK, Light & Sound Design, NYC
2026—Performance as a sonic ensemble for Eva Davidova's "Audience As Virus", ISSUE Project Room, NYC
2026—Sonic Acts's Biennial 2026, Amsterdam
2026—Live performance, Okeechobee Festival, Florida
2025—3alam-building: Intuitional Psychoanalytic Reveries live performance at Mutek Festival, Montreal
2025—As If Reality Part III at ISSUE Project Room with Leila Hassan, NYC
2024—As If Reality Part III at EKKO Festival & Bergen senter for elektronisk kunst, Bergen
2024—As If Reality Part II at Printed Matter Book Fair, NYC
2024—National Sawdust, NYC
2023—Warm Up Series, MOMA PS1, NYC
2023—The Future Of Water Festival, Music Gallery, Toronto
2023—Dream Riots performance with Gavilan Rayna Russom curated by Adam Hajyahia, James Art Gallery (CUNY), NYC
2023—Presentation of multi-media project Coins (project with Miho Hatori), Roulette Intermedium, NYC
2022—Improvisation for Medium /98.6F series with Miho Hatori, 47 Canal, NYC
2021—Untitled for the Radial series, Fridman Gallery, NYC
2017—Ode To The Decaying Internet opening performance for William Basinski & YATTA, ISSUE Project Room, NYC
Awards:
2026—Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant
2025—NYSCA X Roulette Artist Grant
2024—Finalist: La Becque Residency Program
2024—NYC Women's Fund, Women's Fund for Media, Music & Theater, NYFA x Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment
2023—Jerome Hill Artist Alternate Award
2023—Finalist: Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship (Music)
2022—Harvestworks Technology Immersion Fellowship
2020—Breaking Through Artist of 2020, Resident Advisor
2020—SACEM Grant (France)
2019—Discover the 24 Future audio innovators selected by Holly Herndon, Shure x Mixcloud
2017—Self-Storage NYC Recipient, Flux Factory
2012-16—Dean’s List For Spring 2012, 2014, 2016 and Fall 2015 at Parsons The New School for Design
Residencies:
2024—Bergen Senter For Elektronisk Kunst Residency
2022—Issue Project Room x Harvestworks Residency
2018—RedBull Music Academy Bootcamp (Bonaroo Festival)
Guest Artist / Teaching:
2025—Emily Evans’s Class Global Studios and Audiotopias, Cal Arts (Fall 2025)
2025—Emily Evans’s Class Global Studios and Audiotopias, Cal Arts (Spring 2025)
2024—Masterclass, Bergen Senter For Elektronisk Kunst
2020—Raphael Griswold’s Class, Pratt Institute
2019—Dafna Naphtali’s Class, The New School
Talks:
Moderator:
2025—Interview featuring Laraaji at Dripping Festival
2025—Interview with Holland Andrews and MHYSA, Demo Festival/New Inc, NYC
2024-Now—PUTF interview series, Online
Panelist:
2025—How to organically find music with Nyshka Chandran and Nick Boyd, Libera, NYC
2023—DIY Promotion & Design with GENG PTP, Nowadays, NYC
2019— New Media Communities In NY, RA, NYC
2018—Discussion with Debit and Ouri, moderated by Emilie Friedlander, Moogfest, NC
Film Scoring:
2026—Have You Seen Me? by Asif Mian (additional original sound)
2020—Jmar by Samy Sidali (original soundtrack)
Press:
2026—Depth review, Spectrum Culture
2026— ASL Interview, Navel-Gazers
2026—Best Albums Out May 1st, NPR
2026—The Wire Tapper 70 + CD Compilation, Wire Magazine
2025—Bergsonist curates compilation of Moroccan Electronic Music for Air Texture, DJ Mag
2025—The Best Albums out April 4th, NPR
2024—The Best Albums out of Nov. 22, NPR
2024— Best music of 2024 by DeForrest Brown, Jr.’s, Art Forum
2024—The GQ Sound Survey, GQ Middle East (print+online)
2024—Freedom and Resilience Theme, Bergsonist new EP, Mixmag mena (online)
2023—MoMA Ps1 Warm Up Feature, Cultured Mag (online)
2023—Story feat. cross-section of NYC’s DJ community, Cult Classic (print)
2022—Best Music of 2022, by Jace Clayton, Art Forum (print+online)
2022—NYC Artists Breaking Barriers, GQ Middle East (print+online)
2020—Bergsonist's techno diary, The Washington Post (print+online)
2020—Breaking Through Artist of 2020, Resident Advisor (online)
2020—10 Under The Radar Releases.., Dazed (online)
2020—Q&A by Ruth Saxelby, Love Injection (print)
2020—Bergsonist Resists, Nouveau York (online)
2020—A Guide to Bergsonist’s Sprawling, Intuition Driven Electronic Music, Bandcamp Daily (online)
2019—Bergsonist's Bodiless Archive, Borshch Magazine (print+online)
2019—Noise 101: Bergsonist, Scene Noise (online)
2019—Selected by Holly Herndon Interview Series, Mixcloud x Shure (online)
2018—Elaborate Intuition, Bomb Magazine (print+online)
2017-2024—Various Features, The Wire (print+online)
Selected Shows:
ISSUE Project Room (NYC), MOMA Ps1 (NYC), Roulette (NYC), Amant (NYC), Governor's Island (NYC), New Inc (NYC), Batalha Centro De Cinema (Porto), Mutek (Montreal), Moogfest (NC), National Sawdust (NYC), EKKO Festival (Norway), Sonic Acts Festival (Amsterdam), The Center for Performance Research (NYC), Coaxial (LA), Basilica Hudson (NY), Fridman Gallery (NYC), Spectacle Theater (NYC), 47 Canal (NYC), The James Gallery (CUNY), Boston Museum (Boston), Brooklyn Film Festival (NYC), Kafe Haerverk (Oslo), Dripping Festival (NYC), Sustain-Release Festival (NYC), e-flux Bar Laika (NYC), Knockdown Center (NYC), Nowadays (NYC), Jupiter Disco (NYC), Mitsuki (Japan), Station Gare Des Mines (Paris), Industrial 236 (Vancouver), Mood Ring (NYC), Elsewhere (NYC), Bossa Nova Civic Club (NYC), Okeechobee Festival (Florida), Crown Hill Theater (NYC), ELM Foundation (Chicago), The Music Gallery (Toronto), Paragon (NYC), Honey's (NYC), Good Room (NYC), Brooklyn Bazaar (NYC), Deep Blue (Vancouver), Le Bain (NYC), Trauma Bar (Berlin), Ballesta Club (Madrid), Grillx (Vienna), Le Lieu Unique (Nantes), Output (NYC), Hyperion Tavern (LA), Secret Project Robot (NYC), First Unitarian Congregational Society (NYC), Nothing Changes (NYC), Betty's Bar and Grill (Nashville), Sugar Hill Disco (NYC), Cafe Koz (Frankfurt), Fourth World Festival (NYC), Trans-Pecos (NYC), Pioneer Works (NYC), Spectacle Theater (NYC), Witte De With Center for Contemporary Art (Rotterdam), FluxFactory (NYC), Brown University (Rhode Island), Socrates Sculpture Park (NYC).
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.