From January 1936, the anti-fascist movement in Argentina had one of its most consistent organs of opinion in the magazine Unidad por la Defensa de la Cultura (Unity for the Defence of Culture), organ of the Association of Intellectuals, Artists, Journalists and Writers (AIAPE).
The magazine was published from January 1936 to January 1938. The editorial committee had planned to publish monthly but, after the third issue, publication became irregular. In the end, only 8 issues were published. The format was tabloid and each issue was 20 pages long. The cover was in colour, as were some titles on the inside pages. Almost every page contained text and pictures. The magazine functioned mainly through subscriptions, the sale of advertising space (very little), and the cover price. The fact that the price fell by half –from 20 pesos to 10 by the first issue of the second year– suggests that the magazine was struggling to sell. The advertisements may have helped finance the magazine or, if they were in-house and available only to members of the association, may have generated no revenue.
Artistic issues occupied an important place in the magazine, though both written and pictorial content was inevitably connected by the complex international political situation: it denounced the burning of books in Spain, the proclamations defining degenerate art, and the censorship of intellectuals in Germany, Italy and Spain. International politics took up practically the whole of the first issue of the magazine, so it was proposed that, from the second issue onwards, the focus would be more on ‘national’ and artistic issues. However, international politics remained the main focus of the magazine throughout its life, as well as the life of its successor, the New Gazette, from 1941. These concerns are reflected in the publication itself. The magazine reported on the cultural activities carried out by the organisation under the heading: Life of the AIAPE.
In this context it is interesting to note that some of the more politically-driven work was produced by exiled artists, such as the German Clément Moreau and the Spanish Luis Seoane, Pompeyo Audivert, Joan Batlle Planas, Hélios Gómez and Joan Planas Casas, among many others. Most of the exiled artists followed the aesthetic-political project they brought with them, and started producing images for the anti-fascist cause in their land of exile. The images of these exiles cohabited with images of local artists (mostly of immigrant descent): Lino Enea Spilimbergo, Antonio Berni, Victor Rebufo, Ricard Marré, Demetrio Urruchúa.