Artist Spotlight: Deena Abdelwahed - A Lifelong Reckoning with Home
An exclusive interview with the Tunisian artist crafting bold electronic music that blends heritage with innovation.
Deena Abdelwahed stands as a pioneering and influential figure in the MENA region’s electronic music scene. Her deeply personal, and often politically aware content has made her into a relatable voice for a new generation of music fans around the region. However, Deena’s approach to making music has never been about representation, rather, it centers on expressing her own narrative, allowing any shared emotions or experiences to emerge naturally from authenticity rather than intent.
Born in Doha, shaped by Tunisia, and currently navigating the creative communities of Europe, she moves through cultural zones not to synthesize them into some neat hybrid, but to follow what inspires her wherever it leads.
Her early years were punctuated by the pop and electronic sounds that bled through Gulf airwaves. But her departure from Qatar wasn’t about chasing music; it was about finding ground. Tunisia offered a sense of rootedness, but it was unstable soil. Parties grew more exciting, venues buzzed with new energy, but infrastructure, economy, and access remained fragile. Making music took time. Making a life out of it took more than what Tunisia, at that moment, could offer.
France provided the logistical ease and creative space to breathe, and there, Deena found praise recognition. But even as her name gained weight in Europe’s experimental scenes, her pull toward North Africa didn’t loosen. She returned not as a nostalgic expat but as an artist with questions. What does it mean to share a method, not a product? How can sound become less about performance and more about process?
Recently, through a residency program in Cairo alongside Beirut and Beyond and Cairo’s own WRST collective, Deena worked with emerging artists navigating their own creative journeys. The focus was on making music with computers, deep listening, and understanding music beyond technical skill, underscoring her belief that music is an ever-changing language, one without strict rules or a single way to be spoken.
Watch the full interview here:
