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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Projects
Pick Up The Flow
Founded in 2017, Pick Up The Flow/PUTF
is a resource-sharing platform aiming to democratize access to opportunities. Opportunity listings are shared daily via the website and Instagram page (weekly via the newsletter).
The platform was initially designed to facilitate connections among musicians and creative people in NYC by offering a space to sell gear, share knowledge, post apartment listings, and more.
Currently, PUTF exists as an Instagram feed with over 49K+ followers, a website, a newsletter (average open rate: 69.4%), a private FB group (2.1K members) and an interview series.
Since its inception, PUTF has organized various events, including workshops, radio broadcasts, and swap meets, in response to the changing dynamics of the music, art, and culture industries. The platform seeks to pave new paths forward through collective models of trust, both online and offline. PUTF’s mission is to promote access to resources and combat the dominant greed in the art and technology industry.
Selwa has contributed and continues to contribute to the visual identity and branding, as well as the curatorial program of PUTF.
Selected Clients:
Queens Council On The Arts, Times Square Arts, The Joyce Foundation, Pepsico, Printed Matter, Inc, e-flux, The Laundromat Project, Institute For Studies On Latin American Art, Staten Island Arts, Mexican Summer, Apexart, Alfred University, Woodward Residency, Abrons Arts Center, Fractured Atlas, Something Special Studios, MIT Lab Poetic Justice, The American Trust for The British Library, Jeff Koons, Ethan James Green, Foundwork, Center for Book Arts, Children’s Museum of the Arts, Lighthouse Works, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Issue Project Room, Studio Museum In Harlem, Storefront for Art and Architecture and more.
Instagram feed, 2025Pick Up The Flow’s official website Pick Up The Flow’s Substack
Bizaarabazaar
In 2010, Selwa founded Bizaarbazaar, a not for profit and advertisement-free music platform that began as a blog, a sonic archive, and a hub for conceptual compilations.
Her goal was to provide an alternative to the elitist music publications of the era and establish a platform for emerging and underrated musicians. The aim was to disrupt the established order and shape a fresh narrative. The project garnered momentum and earned acknowledgment from diverse music labels and cultural influencers within the industry.
Selwa contributed to the whole visual identity and curatorial program of the platform/label.
Bizaarbazaar's achievements have gained acknowledgment from various publications, including Wire , and its creations have found distribution through notable bookshops like Motto Books Berlin and Printed Matter NYC.
In 2021, Selwa decided to close the BB chapter, ending the blog and platform. However, she preserved its sonic archive on SoundCloud, documenting a decade (2010) of mixes and premiere features.
Initially, she considered compiling all the featured interviews into a zine as an archive but ultimately opted to document everything on the Instagram account instead.
In 2023, she revived the imprint side of bizaarbazaar, embracing a non-linear, free-form approach to releasing new music, with a focus on CD and digital distribution. She launched this new phase with NEXA, a CD by artist G. ZIFCAK, followed by her own album, As If Reality, in 2024.T-shirt compilation for BB, 2019Double cassette + Zine compilation for BB, 2017Zine compilation for BB, Layout Design by Stephen Decker, 2017
Bizaarbazaar’s old blog/ platform hosted on Wordpress, 2012-2017Double cassette + Zine compilation for BB, 2017