Podemos Curar - We Can Heal, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, Feb 2026

The working title Podemos curar - We Can Heal speaks of a shared process of healing — across cultural, political, and thematic boundaries. In the mountains between Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Guardián, near Lake Naboba, the wreckage of an aluminum helicopter has lain since 1974. The metal is cut into pieces and carried out of the highlands on foot over several days — an act that is both physically demanding and symbolically powerful.

Two years of preparation led to this mission.

Gunzareiman Villafaña Torres and Amado Villafaña Chaparro, coordinators of the Arhuaco, realized it together with the traditional authorities and Mamus of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

On February 7, 2026, the international team sets out for Nabusimake: Emmerich Weissenberger (artistic concept), Nora Ruzsics, Seykugumu Garavito Torres, Camilo Mosquera Mejía and Liberman Arango (camera), Dilia Villafaña Torres (sound), as well as Gonzalo Rioseco, Hernando Barragán, Clark Shimeall and Jonathan Dabbs (technical team). The project is supported by numerous Arhuaco women and men and accompanied by Mamu Rogelio and other Mamus.

In Santa Marta, the aluminum fragments undergo a second transformation: they become a social sculpture made of driftwood in the form of a lemniscate — a symbol of continuity and interconnectedness — as well as a monumental 20 × 10 meter “Mural Social.”

Under the artistic direction of Emmerich Weissenberger, young Arhuaco work together with Colombian and international art students to realize the project.

Thus, “Podemos curar – We Can Heal” becomes a collective and solidarity-based act — a visible sign of responsibility, remembrance, and cultural renewal.