- event type:WOMEX 26 Conference Session
- date:24 Oct 2026
- time:15:00 - 16:00
- city/area:Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
- venue:Conference Room 4
- country:Spain
- event posted by:Piranha Arts
Links
Chaired by
Daniel Fernando Wahl (Mexico/Germany), Daferwa / WDR Cosmo / Domingo De Cumbia;
with
Sebastian Cardenas Vesga (Mexico/Spain), Sonido San Francisco;
El Chasky Pum (Argentina), Producer;
Diana Sanmiguel (Colombia), Mambo Negro Records/ La Perla/ La BOA/ La Sonora Mazurén
Electronic cumbia appeared around two decades ago alongside the home studio, as a new form of identity for Latin culture. At the same time, and because of this growing movement, audiences mixed and cumbia was "pardoned" by the middle and upper social classes from an undeserved stigma that had given it a bad reputation. At a moment when cumbia lived almost exclusively in poorer neighbourhoods and the rest of the social structure perceived it as vulgar, it also took a new shift as electronic cumbia, digital cumbia and other tropitronic genres were born.
This session offers analysis of the moment of birth of these musicalities with first-hand data and research from artists who actively shaped the scene, and a review of the crossover between one of Latin America's favourite styles and electronica, and its continuing migration and impact throughout the world.