Ludovico Silva, who had a philosophy background, refutes the thesis of Marta Traba of a “false apocalypse” when she rationalizes that Latin American artists were simulating hardships alien to their reality. According to Silva, the idea of apocalypse is understood by everyone equally, and therefore Latin American artists can freely express themselves by means of whatever strategies and approach they wish to pursue since, in Silva’s view, “one’s homeland is one’s world.” Additionally, Silva states that inevitably every artist will express the experiences lived in their homeland without intending to do so. 

This text is essential to the controversy that began with the article titled “El arte latinoamericano: un falso apocalipsis” in Papel Literario, the weekly supplement section of the Caracas newspaper El Nacional, published on May 2, 1965 and written by the art critic Marta Traba [see doc. no. 799377]. The controversy continued approximately through September of the same year and included renowned Venezuelan intellectuals such as J. R. Guillent Pérez, Alejandro Otero, Roberto Guevara, and Alirio Rodríguez, in addition to the critic herself. The dispute extended to media organizations, such as the Revista Nacional de Cultura, prompted appearances on radio and television by several of the participants, in addition to lectures and debates.

While this article, written by the Venezuelan poet Ludovico Silva (1937−88), also educated in philosophy, did not bring a new thesis to the debate, it brought to light the cultural impact and the extent to which Traba’s concepts had on the country and to their world with regard to the “depersonalization” of contemporary Latin American artists and their “mimicry” of European avant-garde movements. Some intellectuals felt an almost mandatory drive to defend positions against the accusation made by Traba (regarding the depersonalization) of important Venezuelan artists (such as Jesús Rafael Soto and Alejandro Otero), considered by a majority of the Venezuelan society as the role models spearheading the art world of the 1960s.

The present text by Silva supports the primary dimension and “universalist” concept of art defended in most of all the other writings made by Venezuelan critics and artists.