The hips of a statue don’t lie: Shakira is honored in her hometown

The Colombian coastal city of Barranquilla this week unveiled a six-meter-tall tribute to one of the country’s most famous cultural exports: Shakira.

“A heart that composes, hips that don’t lie, an unparalleled talent, a voice that moves the masses and bare feet that march for the good of children and humanity,” reads the plaque beneath the statue.

“I am honored and moved by this incredible recognition in my Barranquilla, the city where I was born,” Shakira said in a statement. “Every barranquillero and barranquillera are my brothers and sisters and the inspiration of my life since childhood.”

The statue’s sculptor, Yino Márquez, said he was delighted with the way the statue was received by the public and by Shakira and her family after it was unveiled on Tuesday. The singer’s mother, he said, told him that God would bless his hands because he was such a good sculptor.

“Shakira herself called me and told me that I had captured her essence very well in the image. That her son saw the statue and said it is the most beautiful statue he has ever seen,” Mr. Máquez said.

The 52-year-old artist said that he had been working on sculptures since he was 16. He has created large sculptures for other Colombian cities and is academic coordinator at the public art school of Barranquilla.

In June, Barranquilla Mayor Jaime Pumarejo called to let him know he was a candidate to create a sculpture of Shakira that the city wanted to erect on the waterfront. He found out he had been selected about a month later when the mayor announced it to the public.

Mr. Pumarejo said he started thinking about a year ago about ways to honor important Barranquilla figures as a way to increase tourism and serve as a role model for young people. City officials opted for a statue representing Barranquilla’s coat of arms and one of Shakira, who the mayor said agreed to the idea.

Together, the two statues cost about $700 million Colombian pesos, or $180,000, he said.

“It was a monumental task,” he said. But he added that he was more than happy with the results. “I think it ended up being a lot more than we expected.”

Shakira, 46, who lives in Spain, was born in Barranquilla, a port city of 1.2 million people and long home to many Colombian-Lebanese families like hers.

Although she lives abroad and tours, she has maintained a close bond with the city. She visits several times a year, has funded several schools and founded a foundation dedicated to improving early childhood education in the country.

“Between the Syrian-Lebanese dances mixed with the flavors of the Caribbean embodied in her hips, they show in the way she dances a Barranquilla of migrants, a Barranquilla open to the world and to integration and diversity,” Mr Pumarejo said. “They also show a woman who dared and succeeded.”

The image, which took five months to complete, shows Shakira in a maroon outfit and performing her famous belly dance. Mr. Márquez first modeled it in clay, then made a mold of silicone and fiberglass and finally cast it in bronze.

The end of her skirt, made of aluminum, symbolizes the waves of the Caribbean Sea and the Magdalena River, Mr. Márquez explained. He added that her raised arms will eventually contain a light that turns on at night.

Mr. Márquez said he first met Shakira, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, when she was about 15 and starting to gain recognition as an artist in Colombia. Some of his art school classmates, he recalls, would help her with her set design.

“I just saw her walking down the halls and I didn’t pay much attention at the time,” he said. Over time, he came to admire her hard work and success.

“Shakira is a symbol of effort, discipline and progress,” he said. “To me she is a fighter.”

When he took on the task of sculpting her likeness, he said she was deeply involved in the process and came to Barranquilla to meet him in person so he could make the statue as accurate as possible.

“I found a kinder and gentler person than I imagined, with a big laugh and smile,” he said.

One day after the statue’s unveiling, tourists from all over the country had already gathered around the Barranquilla promenade to view the new monument and take selfies. Many praised what they saw as the accuracy of the sculpture and its significance to Colombians.

“I’ve always loved her, but especially since she gave Piqué the chance,” said Cindy Avila, a 33-year-old content creator from the northern city of Sincelejo, referring to her estranged husband, Gerard Piqué. “We all grew up admiring her, we wanted to dance, we wanted to dress like her.”

María Paula Giraldo, a 54-year-old ceramist from the capital Bogotá, said the statue “makes us very proud to be Colombians. It also represents an icon, a woman who has done so much for Colombia,” she said. “I grew up with her music. He has been with us on walks, parties and dances.”

Amparo Pacheco, a 62-year-old Colombian businesswoman visiting from Spain, where she lives, said the “sculpture makes you feel like you are in the Caribbean. She is from this country.”

Ivonne Arroyo contributed to the reporting from Barranquilla.