Selena Quintanilla’s outfits, awards and intimate memorabilia make up the new temporary exhibit dedicated to the Queen of Tex-Mex at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, an exhibition that, according to her sister Suzette, is deeply personal and takes on a greater emotional weight for the family after the recent death of their father.
“Everything (on display) means something to me. When Selena passed away, everything took on a different meaning. I just lost my father, so every little thing that I have or that I didn’t notice before, now catches my attention,” Suzette Quintanilla, who coped with the loss of Abraham Quintanilla Jr. on Dec. 13, told EFE.
This is the first time that personal belongings of the star, who died in 1995, have left the Selena Museum located in Corpus Christi, Texas.
According to the exhibit’s curator, Kelsey Goelz, the small show titled ‘Selena From Texas to the World’ is “sort of a small version of the museum in Texas here,” she told EFE.
The exhibition will open its doors to the public this Thursday and will remain available until March 16.
This includes iconic outfits such as the white ruffled blouse, black leather jacket and gold earrings she wore for the cover of the single ‘Amor Prohibido’, one of her most famous songs, as well as the white dress embroidered with silver beads with which she received the Grammy for best Mexican-American album in 1994, and which she would later wear in the video for the song ‘No me queda más’.
Selena is honored at Museum
Other popular garments, such as her white bra and pants ensemble that she wore to a concert at the Houston Astrodome in 1994, and a similar red one that she wore to a concert in San Antonio the same year, grace the room located on the fourth floor of the museum.
Also, the last microphone that heard her sing on stage with a white flower and stained with her characteristic red lipstick or four decorative eggs from her collection of more than 500, among many other objects, complete the exhibition.
“The goose egg there, that single, was the first egg he ever bought and he bought it right here in Los Angeles…. So I thought it was appropriate for him to come here. That’s how the egg collection started,” Quintanilla said.
Latino icon resonating in dark times for the community
The exhibition pays tribute to one of the most influential Mexican-American figures in the history of music and, although it was not conceived for that purpose, it is presented at a key moment for the Latino community in the United States, marked by the intense immigration policy promoted by the current president, Donald Trump.
“We made the decision to share a little bit about Selena and us here in Los Angeles, focusing more on her music and what it still means to this day, but in some ways, it also connects to what’s going on in the world. Selena was very proud to be an American Latina, and I think we should all continue to be. Whatever happens in the world, it doesn’t change who we are,” said the also executive director of Q-Productions.
‘Selena From Texas to the World’ dialogues with the rest of the museum, as on one side is a Michael Jackson exhibit and on the floors below is the Grammy history section.
“We take a little bit of everything, and you can also see it within a broader musical context,” Goelz explains.
The entrance to the museum is presided over by a mural by local artist Mister Toledo, which portrays some of the most emblematic moments of the singer’s career, reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
