Latin music star Shakira is known around the world for her wildly swinging hips as much as she is for her music.
On December 26, her hometown of Barranquilla honoured the award winning star with a 20 foot (six meter) bronze statue depicting those swaying hips. She is attired in a belly dancing costume and her arms raised toward the sky and hips swaying.
The plaque that accompanies the statue reads, “Feb. 2, 1977, the town of “Barranquilla and the world witnessed the birth of a heart that composes, hips that don’t lie, a voice that moves masses and a pair of bare feet that walk for the good of children and humanity.”
The statue that is located near the promenade along the Magdalena River is the second statue of the star. The first is located near the local football stadium and depicts Shakira attired in jeans and boots with an acoustic guitar.
Shakira herself was not in attendance at the unveiling ceremony; only her parents and Barranquilla mayor Jaime Pumarejo were there.
Shakira posted her thanks on X (formerly Twitter), praising sculptor Yino Marquez and his students at the art academy; that she said had “enormous talent”.
The former Latin Grammy Person of the Year was born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripol in Barranquilla, Colombia. Her first English language hit came in 2001 with the top 10 hit “Whenever, Wherever”. She has gone on to win three Grammy Awards and 14 Latin Grammy Awards.
Feature photo credit: Shakira on stage in Singapore Marina Bay Circuit concert. This picture is my brother’s fajar.fieryanto@yahoo.com, he release this on CC-BY-SA