Ceremonia con armas blancas was a collective experience within the program for Acciones frente a la Plaza. The event took place in Caracas with the support of FUNDARTE and under the leadership of artist Marco Antonio Ettedgui in 1981. This action was presented in the exhibition hall of the Gobernación del Distrito Federal on April 19.
The text “Ceremonias con armas blancas” by Venezuelan artist Carlos Zerpa (b. 1950) is important to the history of performance art, not only because he is considered one of the founders of Conceptual art, but also because he was one of the chief exponents of mixed media in 1980s Venezuela. Zerpa had begun creating performance art in 1978, with the action Señoras y señores, buenas noches, presented in Valencia (in the state of Carabobo); the following year, also in the same city, he presented Yo soy la patria, and in 1980, he presented Cada cual con su santo propio. In these actions, Zerpa uses objects of santería, charms, and patriotic symbols, to create his presentation. Nevertheless, as he describes in the text for “Ceremonia con armas blancas,” the proposed action uses other objects: bottles, tiles, string, incense smoke, music, and poetry as “ritual” elements that work together to express a ritual action within an architectural space.