Dadaism: Historical Overview

excerpt from “The Dada Archive” by Timothy Shipe
Curator, International Dada Archive

Contemporary art as we know it could not have come into existence without Dada. Virtually every artistic principle and device which underlies the literature, music, theater, and visual arts of our time was promoted, if not invented, by the Dadaists: the use of collage and assemblage; the application of aleatory techniques; the tapping of the artistic resources of the indigenous cultures of Africa, America, and Oceania; the extension of the notion of abstract art to literature and film; the breaking of the boundaries separating the different art forms from one another and from “everyday life”; the notion of art as performance; the expropriation of elements of popular culture; the notion of interaction or confrontation with the audience–everything which defines what we loosely call the “avant-garde.”

One would be hard pressed to name an artistic movement since 1923 which does not, at least in part, trace its roots to Dada: Surrealism, Constructivism, Lettrism, THE BEAT POETS, Pop- and Op-Art, Conceptual Art, Minimalism, Punk Rock.

But the effects of Dada are not limited to the world of the arts; its impact on contemporary life has been felt from the streets of Chicago to Madison Avenue. The style of political protest which came to the forefront in the late sixties–mock trials, Yippies, Guerrilla theater–can readily be traced back to the actions of the Dadaists in Zurich during the First World War. And commercial advertising as we know it today is indebted to the Dadaists’ experiments with collage and typography; indeed, two members of the Berlin Dada group founded a “Dada Advertising Agency,” and the Hanover Dadaist Kurt Schwitters designed newspaper and magazine advertisements which pioneered techniques we now take for granted.

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Dada or Dadaism

[French, from dada, child’s word for a horse] Nihilistic movement in the arts that flourished chiefly in France, Switzerland, and Germany from about 1916 to about 1920 [and later -ed.] and that was based on the principles of deliberate irrationality, anarchy, and cynicism and the rejection of laws of beauty and social organization.

The most widely accepted account of the movement’s naming concerns a meeting held in 1916 at Hugo Ball’s Cabaret (Café) Voltaire in Zürich, during which a paper knife inserted into a French-German dictionary pointed to the word dada; this word was seized upon by the group as appropriate for their anti-aesthetic creations and protest activities, which were engendered by disgust for bourgeois values and despair over World War I.

In the United States the movement was centered in New York at Alfred Stieglitz’s gallery, “291,” and at the studio of the Walter Arensbergs. Dada-like activities, arising independently but paralleling those in Zürich, were engaged in by such chiefly visual artists as Man Ray and Francis Picabia. Both through their art and through such publications as The Blind Man, Rongwrong, and New York Dada, the artists attempted to demolish current aesthetic standards. Traveling between the United States and Europe, Picabia became a link between the Dada groups in New York City, Zürich, and Paris; his Dada periodical, 291, was published in Barcelona, New York City, Zürich, and Paris from 1917 through 1924.

In 1917 the Dada movement was transmitted to Berlin, where it took on a more political character. The Berlin artists, too, issued Dada publications: Club Dada, Der Dada, Jedermann sein eigner Fussball (”Everyman His Own Football”), and Dada Almanach.

In Paris Dada took on a literary emphasis under one of its founders, the poet Tristan Tzara. Most notable among Dada pamphlets and reviews was Littérature (published 1919-24), which contained writings by André Breton, Louis Aragon, Philippe Soupault, and Paul Éluard. After 1922, however, Dada faded and many Dadaists grew interested in surrealism.

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* DaDa is beautiful like the night, who cradles the young day in her arms.”
- Hans Arp

* “DADA speaks with you, it is everything, it envelops everything, it belongs to every religion, can be neither victory or defeat, it lives in space and not in time.”
- Francis Picabia

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From Cabaret Voltaire - Issue 1 Zürich, 15th May 1916

When I founded the Cabaret Voltaire, I was sure that there must be a few young people in Switzerland who like me were interested not only in enjoying their independence but also in giving proof of it. I went to Herr Ephraim, the owner of the Meierei, and said, “Herr Ephraim, please let me have your room. I want to start a night-club.” Herr Ephraim agreed and gave me the room. And I went to some people I knew and said, “Please give me a picture, or a drawing, or an engraving. I should like to put on an exhibition in my night-club.” I went to the friendly Zürich press and said, “Put in some announcements. There is going to be an international cabaret. We shall do great things.” And they gave me pictures and they put in my annoucements. So on 5th February we had a cabaret. Mademoiselle Hennings and Mademoiselle Leconte sang French and Danish chansons. Herr Tristan Tzara recited Rumanian poetry. A balalaika orchestra played delightful folk-songs and dances.

I received much support and encouragement from Herr M. Slodki, who designed the poster, and from Herr Hans Arp, who supplied some Picassos, as well as works of his own, and obtained for me pictures by his friends O. van Rees and Artur Segall. Much support also from Messrs. Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco and Max Oppenheimer, who readily agreed to take part in the cabaret. We organized a Russian evening and, a little later, a French one (works by Apollinaire, Max Jacob, André Salmon, A. Jarry, Laforgue and Rimbaud). On 26th February Richard Huelsenbeck arrived from Berlin and on 30th March we performed some stupendous Negro music (toujours avec la grosse caisse: boum boum boum boum - drabatja mo gere drabatja mo bonooooooooo -). Monsieur Laban was present at the performance and was very enthusiastic. Herr Tristan Tzara was the initiator of a performance by Messrs. Tzara, Huelsenbeck and Janco (the first in Zürich and in the world) of simultaneist verse by Messrs. Henri Barzun and Fernand Divoire, as well as a poème simultané of his own composition, which is reproduced on pages six and seven. The persent booklet is published by us with the support of our friends in France, Italy and Russia. It is intended to present to the Public the activities and interests of the Cabaret Voltaire, which has as its sole purpose to draw attention, across the barriers of war and nationalism, to the few independent spirits who live for other ideals. The next objective of the artists who are assembled here is the publication of a revue internationale. La revue paraîtra à Zurich et portera le nom “Dada” (”Dada”). Dada Dada Dada Dada.
- Hugo Ball

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Cabaret Voltaire
from the “Dada Dictionary” in Dada: Monograph of a Movement

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During the First World War, Switzerland, and more especially Zürich, became a place of retreat for refugees from all the countries of Europe. It was the ideal breeding ground for their manifestations against war, jingoism and outmoded aesthetical traditions. It was at Zürich that Lenin and his friends laid the plans for the Russian Revolution, and there lived pacifist poets such as Schickele, Leonhard Frank, and Franz Werfel. A special group was formed by Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings (German poets), Hans Arp (an Alsatian painter, sculptor and poet), and two Roumanians: Marcel Janco, a painter, and Tristan Tzara, a poet.
Hugo Ball had at one time been stage director at the Munich “Kammerspiele.” Later, at Zürich, he became a pianist in a group of actors providing cheap entertainment in popular music halls. At the beginning of 1916 Ball rented an empty hall belonging to Ephraim Jan, an elderly Dutch sailor who was running a “Dutch Room” at the “Meierei” (”Dairy Inn”), at Nr. 1 Spiegelgasse, Zurich. There Ball planned to open his own cabaret together with his wife Emmy Hennings, at once poetess, recitationist, and vocalist. For a name, they chose the somewhat suspicious-sounding epithet “Cabaret Voltaire.” They asked Hans Arp, Marcel Janco and Tristan Tzara, members of their circle, to collaborate, and the cabaret was opened on February 5th, 1916.
Its dark premises were artists’ club, exhibition room, pub, and theater, all rolled into one. The artists’ performances consisted of the oddest works which had never before been seen or heard. Noise music, simultaneous poems recited by 4 to 7 voices speaking all at once, bizarre dances in grotesque masks and fancy costumes, interrupted by readings of German and French sound verses sounding like nothing on Earth, and solemn incantations of texts by the mystic Jacob Böhme and of Lao-Tse. On the walls had been hung pictures by artists whose names had been unknown until then: Arp, Paolo Buzzi, Cangiullo, Janco, Kisling, Macke, Marinetti, Modigliani, Mopp, Picasso, van Rees, Slodki, Segal, Wabel, and others.
On May 15th, 1916, Ball published a pamphlet entitled “Cabaret Voltaire,” a collection of artistic and literary contributions (by Apollinaire, Arp, Ball, Cangiullo, Cendrars, Hennings, van Hoddis, Huelsenbeck, Janco, Kandinsky, Marinetti, Modigliani, Oppenheimer, Picasso, van Rees, Slodki, and Tzara). In his introduction, Ball wrote these programmatic words: “When I founded the Cabaret Voltaire, I was of the opinion that there ought to be a few young people in Switzerland who not only laid stress, as I did, on enjoying their independence, but also wished to proclaim it. I went to Mr. Ephraim, the owner of the “Meierei” restaurant and said, ‘Please, Mr. Ephraim, let me have your hall. I want to make a cabaret.’ Mr. Ephraim agreed. So I went to some friends of mine and asked them, ‘Please, let me have a picture, a drawing, an engraving. I want to have an exhibition to go with my cabaret.’ And I went to the friendly press of Zürich and said, ‘Write a few notes. It shall be an international cabaret. We want to do some beautiful things.’ And they gave me pictures, and they wrote the notes. So, on February 5th, we had our cabaret. Mrs. Hennings and Mrs. Leconte sang French and Danish songs. Mr. Tristan Tzara recited Roumanian verses. A balalaika band played some charming Russian folk-songs and dances. Much support and sympathy came to me from Mr. Slodki, who designed the poster for the Cabaret; and from Mr. Hans Arp, who placed at my disposal a few works by Picasso, in addition to his own works, and who also got me some pictures from his friends: O. van Rees and Arthur Segal. There was also much assistance from Messrs. Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco, and Max Oppenheimer, who willingly experssed their readiness to appear at the cabaret. We organized a Russian soirée, and soon after a French one as well (with works by Apollinaire, Max Jacob, André Salmon, A. Jarry, Laforgue, and Rimbaud). On February 26th, Richard Huelsenbeck came from Berlin, and on March 30th we performed fabulous Negro music (always with the big drum, boom, boom, boom-drabatja mo gere drabatja mo boonooo…). Mr. Laban was present at the performance and was quite enthusiastic. Thanks to the initiative of Mr. Tristan Tzara, who along with Huelsenbeck and Janco, performed for the first time in Zürich and, indeed, in the whole world, simultaneous verses by Messrs. Henri Barzun and Fernand Divoire, as well as a simultaneous poem of their own composition. For the little pamphlet we are publishing today, we have to thank our own initiative and the assistance of our friends in France, Italy, and Russia. It is to exemplify the activities and the interests of the cabaret, whose whole endeavour is directed at reminding the world, across the war and various fatherlands, of those few independent spirits that live for other ideals. The next aim of the artists united here is to publish an international periodical. This will appear at Zürich and will be called ‘DADA Dada Dada Dada Dada.’” (- Hugo Ball, Zürich, 15 May 1916)
In this declaration the name of “Dada” is documented for the first time, and from here it was carried into the world. On July 14th, 1916, the first Dada Soirée took place at the “Waage” hall; and in the same month the series of books, “Collection Dada,” began to appear. Tzara’s “The First Heavenly Adventure of Mr. Febrifuge,” with illustrations by Marcel Janco, was the first to be published, then Huelsenbeck’s “Fantastic Prayers” and “Schalaben Schalomai Schalamezomai,” and Tzara’s “25 Poems,” all illustrated by Arp.
On March 17th, 1917, the “Galerie Dada” was opened at No. 19 Bahnhofstraße, and activities transferred there from the “Cabaret Voltaire,” which had been closed in the meantime. “Sturm-Soirées” were given, among them a performance of Kokoschka’s play “Sphinx and Man-of-Straw,” an “Evening of New Art,” exhibitions of ancient and modern art, etc. From July 1917, to May 1919, four issues of the new periodical “Dada” were published with Tzara as editor.
In February 1919, Picabia published No. 8 of his ‘vagabond periodical’ “391″ with collaboration of the Zürich dadaists. October 1919 saw the publication of the last Zürich dada periodical “Der Zeltweg,” edited by Otto Flake, Walter Serner, and Tristan Tzara. After the borders between the countries of Europe had been opened once more, links with Berlin, Cologne and Paris were re-established. Huelsenbeck founded a dada-group in Berlin, Arp and Max Ernst founded one in Cologne. On Tzara’s initiative a particularly active group sprang up in Paris. Dada extended to Holland (van Doesburg), and Schwitters founded “Merz,” his own version of DaDa, in Hannover. And the influence of DaDa extended to Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Spain, Russia, and the United States.

- Hans Bolliger and Willy Verkauf