Selwa Abd (Bergsonist) is a Moroccan-born, New York–based interdisciplinary artist, composer, and design researcher whose practice spans sound, performance, and time-based media.
A recipient of the Issue Project Room Residency (2022), the Harvestworks Technology Immersion Program Grant & 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 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 audiovisual environments. Drawing on electroacoustic and musique concrète traditions and informed by Gilles Deleuze's interpretation of Henri Bergson, she employs electronics, DIY instruments, and 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. 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, drawing on her background in design.
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.
contact cv linktree
@bergsonist
@selwaabd
Artist CV
Born in Casablanca, Morocco.
Lives and works in New York City.
Education:
Parsons School Of Design - The New School, BFA in Communication Design (Magna Cum Laude)
Solo Shows:
2026—Playback Series 0030, e-flux Bar Laika, NYC
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:
2026 —Sonic Ensemble for Eva Davidova’s “Audience As Virus”, ISSUE Project Room, NYC
2026—Sonic Acts’s Biennial 2026, Amsterdam
2025—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 Musical Performance with Bergsonist and Gavilan Rayna Russom curated by Adam Hajyahia, James Art Gallery (CUNY), NYC
2023—Presentation of multi-media project “Coins” (project with Miho Hatori), Roulette, NYC
2022—Medium /98.6F series with Miho Hatori, 47 Canal, NYC
2021—Radial series, Fridman Gallery, NYC
2017—Show with William Basinski & YATTA, ISSUE Project Room, NYC
Awards:
2026—Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant
2025—NYSCA X Roulette Artist Grant
2024—NYFA X Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment | Women’s Fund for Media, Music & Theater
2023—Jerome Hill Artist Alternate Award
2022—Harvestworks Grant & 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
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)
2024—Masterclass | Bergen Senter For Elektronisk Kunst
2024—Emily Evans’s Class “Global Studios and Audiotopias”, Cal Arts (Spring 2025)
2020—Raphael Griswold’s Class, Pratt Institute
2019—Dafna Naphtali’s Class, The New School
Talks:
moderator:
2025—Interview feat Laraaji at Dripping Festival
2025—Studio Demo, Demo Festival-New Inc, NYC
2024—PUTF interview series, Online
panelist:
2025—Panel on How To Find Music, Libera, NYC
2023—“Design w/GENG PTP”, Nowadays, NYC
2019—“New Media Communities In NY”, RA, NYC
2018—Panel by Emilie Friedlander, Moogfest, NC
Film Scoring:
2020—Jmar by Samy Sidali
Press:
2026—Best Albums Out May 1st, NPR2026—The Wire Tapper 70, 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—DeForrest Brown, Jr.’s best music of 2024, 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).