Selwa Abd is a moroccan-born artist, music composer and freelance designer / consultant based in New York City.
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.

Selwa collaborated with a diverse array of cultural artists spanning the realms of both the art and music worlds. Her musical compositions were showcased in exhibitions of contemporary visual artists, she also remixed the works of musical artists, including Depeche Mode. 

She is a recipient of the SACEM grant (2020), Harvestworks Technology Immersion Program Grant & Fellowship (2022), the Issue Project Room Residency (2022) and The Jerome Hill Artist Alternate Award (2023).

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 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.



CV                                        Contact


















Bergsonist

In 2014, Selwa launched her Bergsonist project. Bergsonist is recognized for her contributions to film scoring, sound commissions for contemporary artists, and dance music production. She has notably remixed tracks for several artists, including Depeche Mode.

In her sound performances, she skillfully merges electronic music manipulation with acoustic sounds, drawing inspiration from the traditions of musique concrète and minimalism.

In her music productions, she delves into a variety of styles, ranging from dance genres like minimal, techno, and electronica to experimental, musique concrete. Her vocals frequently feature prominently in her tracks.



Selected Press

The GQ Sound Survey | GQ Middle East | 2024
Freedom and resilience theme... | Mixmag | 2024
MoMA Ps1 Warm Up | Cultured Mag|  2023
NYC DJs Cover Story | Cult Classic | 2023
Best Music of 2022 | Art Forum | 2022
NYC Artists Breaking Barriers | GQ ME | 2022
Feature by Mark LeVine | Songlines | 2021
Bergsonist's diary | The Washington Post | 2020
Breaking Through | Resident Advisor | 2020
Bergsonist's Archive | Borshch Magazine | 2019
Elaborate Intuition | Bomb Magazine | 2018
Various Features | The Wire | 2017-2024


Selected Commissions

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


Awards

Artist Alternate Grant | Jerome Hill  | 2023
Scholarship Award | Harvestworks | 2022
Grant | SACEM x Mabel FIlms | 2020
Holly Herndon Selects | Shure x Mixcloud | 2019
Bass Camp Participation |  RBMA | 2017


Residencies

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


Guest Artist / Teaching Opportunties
Masterclass | Bergen Senter For Elektronisk Kunst | 2024
Emily Evans’s Class | Cal Arts | Spring 2024 (online)
Raphael Griswold’s Class | Pratt Institute | 2020 (online)
Dafna Naphtali’s Class | New School | 2019 (in-person)


Talks

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




Albums

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



Selected Eps


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:
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 "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