Bergvall was born in Germany and has lived in Switzerland, France, Norway, the UK and the USA.  An academic, she has received degrees from Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, the University of Warwick, and the Dartington College of Arts. She has taught at Cardiff University and Bard College and was Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellow in the Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Southampton. 

Her work ranges widely and includes performance, installations, soundworks, drawings and books, with insights gained on feminism, language, interpretation, cultural identity, history and politics. Bergvall’s interdisciplinary approach facilitates numerous entry points to art.  She has exhibited work at MoMA, the Tate Modern, and the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Antwerp. Her talent has been recognized with a Cholmondely Award (2017) and the inaugural Prix Littéraire Bernard Heidsieck-Centre Pompidou (2019).  In 2019 Bergavall received a Bogliasco Fellowship. 

Publications include full length collections and chapbooks. For a full list of her work in book form see  Books – Caroline Bergvall.