This documentation was presented during the last International Fig Symposium –held in Rovinj, Croatia, in 2019–. Composed by photographs that capture the cultural and gastronomic diversity of fig tree cultivation and fig consumption, this series is a tribute to the producers, the landscapes and the very rich history of this tree whose mystique and symbolism have left traces in many different creeds and civilizations.
Eleven countries cover this journey, centered on my country of origin (Peru) and Mediterranean Europe (Greece, Italy, Croatia, Spain, Slovenia, France and Western Turkey). After three years of countless visits to fields on the Southern European coast, I decided to include Central European countries (Germany, Switzerland and Austria) in order to represent the relationship between the countryside and the city through urban agriculture projects.
These trips began with the aim of learning about the cultivation and drying of figs by going to the most primary sources, as I am also a food producer –of fig bread, mainly–. However, little by little, a more journalistic and documentary dimension took over, culminating in the work presented in Rovinj, which also covers aspects such as tourism, languages and the relevance of organic farming.
The series had its debut in Athens thanks to the commitment of Gerogia Dousikou and Mario Desyllas. Both of them have been regenerating urban and rural spaces and linking agricultural and gastronomic expressions in Greece with the rich Hellenic history. The 2018 exhibition took place in the urban garden of Agias Paraskevi, and featured figs from Naxos, Kimi, the Peloponnese, Kamena Vourla and, of course, the Siguas Valley (Peru).
