American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music

October 13, 2007 - September 7, 2008

American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music is the first interpretive museum exhibition to tell the story of the profound influence and impact of Latinos in American popular music. The exhibition was created in partnership with guest curators from the University of Washington. Rich with artifacts, instrument interactives, listening kiosks and films, American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music is open at EMP|SFM through September 7, 2008. A cell phone audio tour is available in the exhibition gallery.

The 5,000-square-foot exhibition focuses on five major centers of Latino popular music production in the post-World War II United States—New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio and San Francisco—which represent the diversity of Latino music. Each city section draws visitors into the broader histories and cultures that shaped these musicians' contributions through artifacts, hands-on instrument interactives designed to teach key concepts, highly produced listening kiosks that allow critical listening and learning, three films created for the exhibition and interpretive text presented in English and Spanish.
American Sabor: Latinos en la Música Popular Norteamericana es la primera exposición inter pretativa sobre la profunda influencia eimpacto de los latinos en la música popular de los Unidos. Repleta de artefactos, juegos interactivos con instrumentos, cabinas musicales y películas, American Sabor: Latinos en la Música Popular Norteamericana se inaugurará en el EMP|SFM el 13 de octubre del 2007.

La exposición, con 5,000 pies cuadrados, se enfoca en cinco centros de producción de música popular latina en los Estados Unidos de la postguerra, que representan su diversidad: Nueva York, Los Ángeles, Miami, San Antonio y San Francisco. Cada sección urbana atrae al visitante a las historias y culturas que definieron a estos músicos mediante la presentación de artefactos, actividades interactivas con instrumentos cuyo propósito es resaltar conceptos clave, cabinas musicales de alta tecnología que promueven la audición y el aprendizaje críticos, tres películas producidaspara la exposición, y material interpretativo en inglés y en español.
Click on a thumbnail for a larger image:

Exhibition located on Level 3 at EMP|SFM. (PDF -- 2.3MB) Main image: Detail of Joe Cuba band member dancing with partner at the Palladium, New York City, circa 1955. Courtesy of Johan Kugelberg.