Barranquilla, the Caribbean hometown of Colombian pop sensation Shakira, unveiled a 6.5-meter (21.3-foot) hip-swaying statue in her honor on Tuesday.
The singer is shown in the enormous bronze and aluminum sculpture wearing a long, flowing skirt, a bare midsection, and a bikini top. Her hands are clasped over her head, and one hip is jutting out in one of her signature dance moves.
Shakira’s parents, William Mebarak and Nidia Ripoll, were present at the unveiling of the sculpture on the banks of the Magdalena River, which bears the inscription, “Hips that do not lie, a unique talent, a voice that moves masses.”
One of the 46-year-old Shakira’s award-winning songs is titled Hips don’t lie.
The singer expressed gratitude to art students and sculptor Yino Marquez on platform X for “this example of the enormous artistic talent of the people of my country.”
Icon of Latina girl power Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll has won three Grammy awards and sold about 80 million albums worldwide.
She was recently in the news for quite different reasons—she was being looked into for unpaid taxes in Spain and had to pay settlements totaling millions of euros.
Shakira was mentioned in the 2021 “Pandora Papers” leaks, which exposed the wealth and tax evasion tactics of the world’s most powerful people.
She has since released a new hit song with Argentine DJ Bizarrap that has been viewed more than 666 million times on YouTube and won 2023 song of the year at the Latin Grammy Awards.
