Selwa Abd is a Moroccan-born, 
New York-based interdisciplinary artist, composer, and design researcher working with time-based media.
Her prolific and thought-provoking output challenges critical questions surrounding the future of technology, her own fragmented personal identity shaped by the complexities of post-colonial urban environments, and the influence of virtual realities on contemporary society.

Inspired by Deleuze's interpretation of Henri Bergson's philosophical framework, she embraces intuition as a legitimate method for investigating these complex issues in all her creative endeavors.

In her 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.

Selwa has collaborated with a wide range of cultural artists across the art and music worlds. Her compositions have been featured in contemporary art exhibitions, and she has remixed works by musical artists, including Depeche Mode.

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 has 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, Sonic Arts Festival, Issue Project Room x The Center for Performance Research, Basilica Hudson, Fridman Gallery, The James Gallery, 47 Canal and The Brooklyn Film Festival to name a few.

Selwa has earned recognition from outlets including The Washington Post, BOMB Magazine, GQ Middle East Magazine, Resident Advisor, Mixmag Mena, NPR and Artforum

Her music has been released on labels such as Optimo Music and Tresor Records.

Selwa is the founder of the 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

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, sound 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

2024 | The Best Albums out of Nov. 22 | NPR
2024 | DeForrest Brown, Jr.’s best music of 2024 |
2024 | The GQ Sound Survey | GQ Middle East
2024 | Freedom and resilience theme... | Mixmag
2023 | MoMA Ps1 Warm Up | Cultured Mag
2023 | NYC DJs Cover Story | Cult Classic 
2022 | Best Music of 2022 | Art Forum 
2022 | NYC Artists Breaking Barriers  (Internet Archive Link)| GQ Middle East
2021 | Feature by Mark LeVine | Songlines 
2020 | Bergsonist's diary | The Washington Post 
2020 | Breaking Through | Resident Advisor 
2019 | Bergsonist's Archive | Borshch Magazine 
2018 | Elaborate Intuition | Bomb Magazine 
2017-2024 | Various Features | The Wire


Selected Commissions

2024 | “As If Reality” A/V Performance | EKKO Festival 
2024 | Live Performance | Printed Matter NYABF
2024 | Live Performance | National Sawdust 
2023 | Live Performance | MOMA Ps1 Warm Up 
2023 | Elaborate Intuition Mix | e-flux 
2023 | Depeche Mode Remix | Columbia /Sony 
2022 | “As If Reality” A/V Performance | ISSUE Project Room
2022 | Soundtrack Feature in Exhibition | Meriem Bennani 
2022 | Soundtrack Feature in Exhibition | Asif Mian 
2022 | Soundtrack Feature in Exhibition | Eva Davidova 
2021 | Song Feature in Compilation | Tresor Records 
2021 | Soundtrack Feature in Exhibition | Meriem Bennani 
2020 | Music Compositiong for Film |Samy Sidali 
2020 | Online Presentation A/V Piece “D’un Fragment a l’autre” | ISSUE Project Room
2019 | Soundtrack Feature | Meow Wolf | Janelle Langford
2018 | Songs Featured in Short Film | Boiler Room x Margot Bowman & Lynette Nylander


Awards

2025 | NYSCA X Roulette Artist Grant
2024 | NYFA x Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment’s Women Fund Grant for Music, Media & Theater
2023 | Artist Alternate Grant | Jerome Hill 
2022 | Scholarship Award | Harvestworks 
2020 | Grant | SACEM x Mabel FIlms 
2019 | Holly Herndon Selects | Shure x Mixcloud 
2017 | Bass Camp Participation |  RBMA


Residencies

2024 | Artist-In-Residence | Bergen Senter For Elektronisk Kunst x EKKO Festival 
2022 | Technology Immersion Program Fellow | Harvestworks 
2022 | Artist-In-Residence | ISSUE Project Room


Guest Artist / Teaching Opportunties

2024 | Masterclass | Bergen Senter For Elektronisk Kunst
2024 | Emily Evans’s Class | Cal Arts 
2020 | Raphael Griswold’s Class | Pratt Institute 
2019 Dafna Naphtali’s Class | The New School


Talks

2023 | “DIY Design with GENG PTP” | Nowadays
2023 | “Electronic’s Infinite Past, Present..”| Catalog
2019 | “New Media Communities In NYC”| RA 
2018 | Panel led by Emilie Friedlander | Moogfest 




Albums
2024  Maghreb
2024  As If Reality
2023  Bergsonist
2019   Middle Ouest
2017  From Dualism To Monoism
2016  Moral



Selected Eps

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





Spotify  |   Soundcloud   | NTS Radio Shows

Bandcamp


Upcoming Shows



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 feat Miho Hatori, commissioned by Roulette, 2023



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



 Stop The Killing by Bergsonist (composition & video), 2024


Attachement by Bergsonist (composition & video), 2024