Laura Huertas Millán: Curanderxs

The coca plant is one of the world’s most controversial plants, known in the West for its association with cocaine, which fueled a violent drug trade. However, for the indigenous peoples of the Andes, coca holds cultural and spiritual significance. Colombian filmmaker Laura Huertas Millán has explored this complexity since 2018.

Her exhibition “Curanderxs” (Spanish for “healers”), includes a new multi-channel projection produced in 2024 as part of the After Nature Ulrike Crespo Photography Prize, along with two other video installations. The new work imagines a speculative narrative set in the 17th century, where femmes secretly distribute coca leaves to enslaved indigenous workers under colonial rule. Huertas Millán uses fiction and an aesthetic reminiscent of early silent films to critique the colonialist appropriation of nature.

In “El Laberinto” (2018), the filmmaker weaves found footage and 16-mm film to explore the memories of Cristobal Gómez Abel, who worked for drug barons in the Colombian Amazon. The film navigates the ruins of a narco villa and reflects on trauma, identity, and redemption.

The final piece, “Para la Coca” (2024), focuses on the ritual use of coca in Colombia’s indigenous communities, countering colonialist and criminal narratives. The film tells the myth of the Murui people, who see coca as a deity that teaches ethical use.

Curanderxs marks Huertas Millán’s first solo exhibition in Germany and is curated by Katharina Täschner.  An accompanying publication will be released by Hartmann Books.