Alejandra Cárdenas (also known as Ale Hop) is a Peruvian-born artist and researcher based in Berlin. Her multidisciplinary work spans live performances, record releases, sound, text and video artworks, academic research on sound and technology, and original compositions for film and dance.
Her live performances merge the physicality of sound with raw emotional states. She builds layers of sound by maneuvering an intricate repertoire of electric guitar techniques to create music of deep intensity. She began her career in Lima’s experimental and underground scene in the 2000s and, after years of playing in pop and electronic bands, launched her solo project in 2012 following a debut solo performance at Boiler Room in New York. Since relocating to Berlin in 2015, Cárdenas has continued to evolve her solo work while touring internationally. She released her acclaimed album “The Life of Insects” in 2020 and, in recent years, has initiated various collaborative practices and albums, such as “Agua Dulce” (2023) with percussionist Laura Robles, which explores radical reinterpretations of Afro-Peruvian rhythms; “Mapambazuko” (2025) with Titi Bakorta, which delves into Congolese music; and “Near and Remote Activation Practices” with Tatiana Heuman, which draws inspiration from South American organology and storytelling, and is currently featured in the “Feel the Sound” exhibition at the Barbican Centre.
Cárdenas approach to the subjects covered in her pieces is informed by her background as a researcher. She is currently a guest lecturer in the Sound Studies program at the Berlin University of the Arts. Cárdenas holds a BA in Art History, a Master’s in Sound Studies, studies in History of Science and Technology, and is a PhD candidate at the Berlin University of the Arts. She co-founded the Berlin-based festival Radical Sounds Latin America (of which she was co-curator from 2019 to 2021), and today runs the editorial platform Contingent Sounds, which facilitates critical discourses and artistic research on listening.
As an author and editor, she has published the volume “Switched On: The Dawn of Electronic Sound by Latin American Women” (co-edited with Luis Alvarado), the first book dedicated exclusively to the female protagonists of Latin American electronic music in the 20th century, and three volumes of the publication “Border Listening/Escucha Liminal,” which collects texts and artworks by artists, researchers, and activists who are actively engaged in practicing and thinking about sound and listening as an anti-hegemonic gesture.
She has showcased her work at festivals and institutions such as Barbican Centre, UNSOUND, MUTEK, Bienal de Pensamiento, CTM Festival, Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Somerset House Studios, Museum of Arts and Design in New York and participated in residencies facilitated by Pro Helvetia, EMS Stockholm, MONOM Berlin’s Center for Spatial Sound, and Red Bull Music Academy. Additionally, her music has been highlighted by publications including The Guardian, Pitchfork, The Wire, Spin, and Mojo, and her film work has been recognized at the Australia Independent Film Festival, Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival (2021), and Stockholm City Film Festival (2022).
Contact: info@alehophop.com
Photo:raul garcía
