Other Chicha Aesthetics: Bodies, Images, and the Performance of Chicha/Southern Cumbia in El Alto, Bolivia

Authors

  • Huáscar Piérola Dorado Universidad de Tarapacá

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/bsj.2025.368

Keywords:

Chicha aesthetics, sureña cumbia, El Alto, Lima, Chile, Andean highlands, transnational

Abstract

El Alto has established itself as one of the epicenters of the chicha/sureña cumbia music industry in the Andean region. This is due to the prevalence of social, physical, and economic infrastructures that sustain this musical   market and foster its articulation both with nearby localities and other regions. Moreover, this occurs, within the framework of an extensive festive calendar. In this context, chicha/sureña cumbia—through its sound, lyrics, performances, and visual representations—opens a path for analysis that invites us to question and redefine the limitations of theory when conceptualizing Andean, chicha, neo-Andean, and chola aesthetics. To this end, the article analyzes the chicha aesthetics associated with the chicha/sureña cumbia performed and produced in the city of El Alto. These aesthetics are broadly expressed in fashion, graphic design, art, music    videos,  and  the  performances  of  the  various  groups  that  interpret them.

For these reasons, I propose to examine chicha through a qualitative methodological approach focused on the visual representations and staging of this musical style. We can thus observe that, in El Alto, the chicha is not only music but, above all, a way of inhabiting the city. 

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Published

2025-12-11

Issue

Bolivian Studies Journal Vol. 31, 2025

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Huáscar Oscar Piérola Dorado

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