Christian Vera was born in Lima. After studying communication (journalism, photography and film studies), he decided to take care of the ancient fig trees of his farm, documenting the culture of figs in Eurasia and portraying different manifestations of organic farming in German-speaking countries. His work mixes food production (always organic), depicting landscapes (living, dead, seemingly dead) used for agricultural purposes, experimenting with solar cooking, and documenting the (sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile) connection between culture and nature. His work (figs, photos and documentations) has been presented in Greece, Uruguay, Switzerland and Croatia.
These different activities have allowed him to preserve the ancient fig trees (along with old varieties of wheat, rye and nettle) of his farm and have access to history-rich manifestations of organic farming in Europe and South America. Through the mysticism and symbolism of fig trees it is possible to reconstruct the history of humanity and make a valuable contribution towards sustainability in the context of climate change. The archaeological cultural landscape of the Siguas Valley, where he tends his fig trees, gives him the chance to translate all these impulses concretely into nature and to use the distant past as a tool for his (written, artistic, agricultural) projects.
When Christian is in the fig farm, he prepares fig coffee daily with his solar oven and makes fig bread with his old artisan meat grinder. In Lima (where he resides) he offers tastings and writes.