Dada
– A very brief history
Dada
was a movement that flowered and shone for only a very
short time. And, it was intensive. And, the fact that it started
in Zurich in 1916 was something much more than just coincidence.
There was no where else for it. The world was at war, and
Switzerland, being neutral, had become a refuge for
artists and other intellectuals who were opposed to the war (WW1).
And, Switzerland was one of the only places in the world where
people were free to express meanings, positions and opinions. And,
Zurich, with its colony of foreign free thinking intellectuals, was
perfect for Dada.
And,
Dada really started in the summer of 1916 when Hugo Ball read his
Dada manifesto in the Cabaret Voltaire, which, by the way, he had
founded in February of the very same year. And, very
simply put, Dada was against everything to do with the war and
against everything bourgeoisie
that had led to its start. And, because Dada was against everything,
it was also against itself! And, this “being against everything”
was expressed with the use of everything and anything in sometimes
very extraordinary abstract and unrealistic ways. Dada included
painting, poetry, writing, theatre and just about everything else
imaginable, too. And, because Dada was basically against the war
which was a world war, Dada quickly spread from Zurich to the rest of
the world.
There
were Dada movements everywhere. And, the list of
people involved was impressive. There was Francis Picabra, Marcel
Duchamp, Man Ray, Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Höch, and very many
other fine individualists, too.
But,
times changed. And, Dada only lasted until its original members went
their separate ways in 1922. Change, it seemed, was able to happen
without Dada.
And,
nowadays? Dada still lives on as a living Dada museum. There are
still many Dada groups throughout the world which faithfully continue
to put on, perform and recite original Dada. And, the Cabaret
Voltaire is still very much alive as a shrine to the sacred memory of
Dada. And, why not? Dada, after all, was a movement that burned
with a passion of white hot feeling that questioned, rejected and
questioned again. Nothing was sacred, not even Dada itself. And,
Dada's demise was due to its attempts at
self-regulation and the making of rules. And, that wasn't Dada!
Dada, it turned out, was just as human and conventional
as everything else! Dada was a child of its time that sadly never
grew up! And that, in a way, was Dada as well. nj – 2016
Vocabulary
coincidence
– two or more things happening unexpectedly at the same time
demise
– the end
flowered
and shone – succeeded in a very big or dramatic way
founded
– started
it
turned out – as it happened
movements
– active groups
refuge
– place of safety
Questions
What
was Dada against?
Why
did Dada start in Switzerland?
Why
was Zurich perfect for Dada?
Who
founded the Cabaret Voltaire?
What
did Dada include?
Why
did Dada become international?
What
are your feelings towards Dada?
Getting ready for DADA - by Nigel A. JAMES
