AWERA (“The path to becoming a woman” in Emberá Chami language) is a multidisciplinary project created with Las Traviesas—a community of trans-Indigenous women from the Embera Chami and Katio people in Santuario, Risaralda, Colombia—alongside other Indigenous peoples, artists, and collaborators from Latin America and Germany. AWERA reflects on how colonial constructions of identity can be queered and explores the possibilities of womanhood beyond cisgender categories. Through Awera, the participants shift the focus from white, western and urban gender identities to decolonial, non-western and rural concepts of queerness, in which the Emberá cosmovision, rituals, traditional heritage and the local culture of the coffee region have a strong influence.

Developed between January 2021 and January 2024 in Santuario and Bogotá, AWERA emerged from collaborative laboratories, where diverse disciplines—including film, music, performance, beading, monotype printing, twerking, and photography—interacted in dialogue with one another. Works were created through shared experiences, drawing inspiration from ancestral futures, retellings of dreams, and imagination exercises, resulting in pieces that challenge and expand traditional narratives.

AWERA speaks to the power of unexpected collaborations and new, unpredictable kinships that transcend conventional genealogical, ethnocentric, and anthropocentric relationships. The interplay of the various works fosters an intimate dialogue across diverse backgrounds and imaginations, capturing the aspirations of Las Traviesas to demonstrate that there are many ways to be an Emberá woman.