Go behind the scenes at the GRAMMY Museum’s inspiring new exhibit, “Shakira, Shakira.” Filled with costumes, musical equipment and listening stations, the first-ever exhibit on Shakira explores the work of “a devoted, passionate musical globetrotter.”

The entrance of the enchanting “Shakira, Shakira: The GRAMMY Museum Experience” is trimmed by a golden fringe, setting the mood as Shakira’s voice and music beckon you inside to admire her bedazzled artifacts. But much like the Colombian pop star herself, the exhibit is so much more than a bunch of sparkle and shine.

The first-ever exhibit celebrating Shakira, on view through winter 2024, is a multi-room immersive experience that explores her 30-plus-year career and key moments along the way. The in-depth look at her music details her disciplined, yet exploratory artistic approach, and highlights her cornucopia of global influences.

“Shakira, Shakira” reminds us of the incredible talent, passion and creativity that the “Whenever, Wherever” singer has long possessed, making it clear why the three-time GRAMMY winner and 11-time Latin GRAMMY winner is still breaking records and boundaries, decades into her career.

The entrance to “Shakira, Shakira” | Rebecca Sapp

The exhibit begins by detailing Shakira’s  rich roots in the Colombian city of Barranquilla, a colorful, coastal city filled with Afro-Caribbean influence and the sounds of salsa, cumbia and vallenato. Her home there was creative, musical and multicultural: Her mom is Colombian with Italian and Catalan roots and her dad is Lebanese. Fascinated by a visit to a Lebanese restaurant, Shakira began belly dancing at the age four and “cherished Arabic music as a child.” She also began writing songs at 8 years old, and was encouraged by her parents to pursue her artistic passions. As a teenager working on her early records, Shakira also learned the ins-and-outs of the studio so that she could also co-produce her music.

A musical map stretching across the first room uses locales to unpack the layered influences the singer expertly folds into her global sonic quilt. It is divided into three major sections: Barranquilla, global (including rock and rock en español) and Afro Caribbean, and each explores the specific styles, genres and artists that have influenced her.

“From the very beginning, we realized this was not going to be an exhibit putting records and album covers on the wall,” says exhibit co-curator Ernesto Lechner, who is also a writer for GRAMMY.com. “[With the exhibit atlas], we can talk about this woman who goes to play in Paris and performs an ’80s French pop hit in French in front of the Parisian audience. How gutsy do you have to be to do that?”

At the listening stations for each region, you can explore songs from Shakira’s catalog that exemplify these influences, as well as tracks that influenced her. For example, “Gypsy” on 2009’s She Wolf is a tribute to India’s Bhangra music and included traditional Indian instruments like the tabla and sitar.

One of the instruments on display | Rebecca Sapp

Through another fringed space, you’ll hear directly from Shakira and some of her key collaborators in an exclusive new mini documentary made for the exhibit. Therein, Shakira looks back at some of her biggest moments including adorable archive footage of her performing as a kid and promoting her first album, 1991’s Magia — released when she was just 14.

Shakira opened up her home in Barcelona to the museum’s curatorial team, which selected a stellar collection of instruments and costumes from her tours, music videos, and photo shoots. You can admire three of her enviable, shiny guitars: the baby pink Fender covered in 20,000 pink and silver Swarovski crystals that she used on her Oral Fixation Tour in 2006 and 2007, her custom gilded Yamaha from the 2018 El Dorado Tour, and her Gibson Firebird covered in 70,000 black Swarovski crystals that she rocked at the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show.

There are also plenty of her head-turning looks on display, although it would be impossible to have all of them! The exhibit offers an up-close look at her green leaf Garden of Eden bikini from the Oral Fixation Vol. 2 cover, the red pants from her first world tour in 2002, both of her sparkly Super Bowl outfits custom designed by Peter Dundas, and more.

Shakira’s lyric journal | Rebecca Sapp

Another video features Latina music journalists discussing Shakira’s most iconic music videos, which highlight themes of feminism, freedom and cross-cultural references. They point out how her iconic 2005 collab with Wyclef Jean, “Hips Don’t Lie,” is generally thought of as being about her body and its power, but really, it has a much deeper message. The video is a tribute to Afro-Colombian and Caribbean influence in Barranquilla and is a cross-cultural conversation between her and Wyclef, asserting their Caribbean connection and claiming the title refugee for themselves.

“I’m always upset when a musician — this happens a lot to women — is put in a little box by the general public and the mainstream press. I never liked that Shakira was always thought of as a light pop star, a pop star who’s pretty and dances. I think that’s such a disservice to her amazing discography and the work she has done,” says Lechner. “She is a devoted, passionate musical globetrotter who has explored every single music genre that you can think of, with purity and respect, without doing any appropriation whatsoever, with a genuine love for the essence of the genres that she falls in love with.”

Lechner added that Shakira has always been a musical chameleon, and in doing so, has helped popularize a variety of sounds with mainstream global audiences.

“‘Ojos Así’ was this seal of approval, it was this big cultural statement saying, ‘I’m a hip rockera and I love Arabic music and I belly dance and I incorporate it into my music.’ I think it opened the minds of so many people of my generation,” Lechner added.

As you absorb all the stories about Shakira, her music and accomplishments, it’s nearly impossible to not feel inspired. It wouldn’t be a GRAMMY Museum exhibit without some interactive spaces in addition to all the education and musical artifacts. “Shakira, Shakira” features a mixing desk, where you can step into the producer’s seat and practice mixing her music. There’s also a TikTok booth, where you can watch Shaki’s latest TikTok challenge and record yourself serving your best attempt to make your hips speak the truth.

And after you attempt to process all the jaw-dropping stats listed on the wall — like how she was the first solo female artist to chart a Spanish language song in the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 and the first artist to top both Billboard’s Top 40 Mainstream and Latin charts in the same week — take a seat to watch the final video, a rousing compilation of some of Shakira’s best live performances over the years.