Dada: the Art Movement from Zurich

Dada? Dada!

Over a century ago, a small group of artists turned the whole of Zurich on its head. The international group called itself “Dada” and met at the Cabaret Voltaire. From 1916, the collective recited meaningless sound poems, made collages from various materials and gave unknown dance performances in the heart of the Old Town. Disruptive actions in restaurants and bizarre newspaper hoaxes were also part of their repertoire. Sensational, avant-garde, and wild, Dada paved the way for later art movements, such as Surrealism and Pop Art.

Dada

The City Tour

Anyone interested in finding out more about Dada should book a place on the “Dada Art Movement” tour. This city tour follows in Dada’s footsteps to the group’s most important locations. Participants learn how Dada came about in Zurich, who the initiators were, and how they turned the rather conservative city of Zurich upside down in a very short time.

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10 Facts About Dada

Dada in Brief

Dada was born in Zurich.	In 1916, the First World War was raging in Europe. Many artists and intellectuals fled to neutral Switzerland, and Zurich became the epicenter of the European avant-garde and exile art.
It all began at the Cabaret Voltaire.	On February 5, 1916, Hugo Ball and his future wife, Emmy Hennings, opened the Cabaret Voltaire, a tavern for artists, at Spiegelgasse 1 in Zurich’s Niederdorf quarter. International artists and intellectuals regularly met here.
Dada was a new art form.	Dada cannot be pinned down to just one artistic form and for this reason is difficult to define. The movement is generally regarded as anti-bourgeois and anarchic, and Dada art as nonsensical, crazy, and wild.
The Dadaists were the first performance artists and precursors of slam poets.	In a kind of frenzy, the Dadaists experimented with different styles, materials, and forms. When Hugo Ball performed “verses without words” – so-called sound poems – for the first time, Dadaism took on a mystical, religious quality. They were the first performance artists, inventing not only the sound poem, but also the simultaneous poem (whereby several speakers recite verses in different languages and tempos at the same time), and were pioneers of surrealism and slam poetry. Collage also became known through the Dadaists.
Dada opposed war and bourgeois norms.	The Dadaists sought an art form that would heal and liberate people from the madness of the times. Dada experimented with different styles and media, and protested against the inhumanity and cruelty of war with nonsense, wit, and irony.
Dada is a hobbyhorse.	There are several legends surrounding the name “Dada”: 1. Did one of the Dadaists perhaps find the name while randomly leafing through a French dictionary? Dada is a childish term for “hobbyhorse”. 2. Another version claims that the name derives from the Russian word “da”, meaning “yes”. 3. Yet another says that the Dadaists were inspired by the soap manufacturer, Bergmann & Co, which had a hobbyhorse as its logo. As one Dada manifesto puts it: “Dada is the best lily milk soap in the world”.
Dada was international.	The founding members of the movement came from Germany, Romania, and France. Only Sophie Taeuber Arp, the wife of Hans (Jean) Arp, was Swiss.
Dada was gaga.	Dada caused a stir with non-conformist art and bizarre actions – for example, they published false reports about an alleged pistol duel between two Dadaists, or would walk into a tavern, shout “Dada!”, and then run off again.
Dada conquered the world.	The Dadaists were great communicators. With the letters, manifestos, and magazines that they sent to artist friends, they spread their visions around the world. Before long, there were Dada off-shoots in Berlin, Hamburg, Paris, and New York. Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, John Heartfield, and Hannah Höch joined Dada.
Dada is dead. Long live Dada!	The better known the group became, the more disputes arose about the aim and purpose of Dada. Hugo Ball left the movement just a few months later to go into new exile in Ticino, where he turned to mystical Catholicism. The internal quarrels led to an abrupt end. When Surrealism emerged in 1923, many Dadaists joined this movement.

Dada Locations in Zurich

On the trail of Dada

Besides the Cabaret Voltaire, there are other places and venues in Zurich that were important to the Dadaists. Some of the restaurants, clubs, and bars remain unchanged to this day and still exude the magic of the Dada myth.

Who is Who?

The Founding Members of Dada Zurich in 1916

Hugo Ball

1886 – 1927

Emmy Hennings

1885 – 1948

Marcel Janco

1895 – 1984

Tristan Tzara

1896 – 1963

Richard Huelsenbeck

1892 – 1974

Hans (Jean) Arp

1886 – 1966

Sophie Taeuber-Arp

1889 – 1943

Sophie Taeuber-Arp found her way to the Cabaret Voltaire through Hans Arp. After attending Rudolf von Laban’s School of Dance and spending several summers living in an artist colony on the Monté Verità in Ascona, she taught textile art at the Zurich Kunstgewerbeschule. She performed cubist dances at the Cabaret Voltaire. In her search for new art forms and materials, she created the first constructive and concrete works of art, and is regarded as the precursor of this genre. Until 2016, a picture of her featured on the Swiss 50-franc banknote.

Dada Digital

Online Dada Collection

The Kunsthaus Zürich owns one of the world’s most extensive Dada collections. It includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, letters, flyers, posters, and more. Over 480 documents have been scanned and made available online as part of the “Dada Digital” project.