Dada
– A very brief history
Dada
was an intellectual movement that started in Zurich in 1916. The
world was at war, and neutral Switzerland had become a refuge
for artists opposed to the war. And, Zurich, with its colony of
foreign free thinking intellectuals, was perfect for Dada.
In
the summer of 1916, Hugo Ball read his Dada manifesto in the Cabaret
Voltaire in Zurich. Simply put, Dada was against everything to do
with the war and against everything bourgeoisie
that had led to the start of the war.
And,
Dada was exciting and always scurile. Dada included poetry,
painting,writing, theatre and everything else imaginable, too. And,
Dada hit the right note. Dada quickly spread from Zurich to the rest
of the world.
There
were Dada movements everywhere. And, the people
involved were impressive. Amongst them, Francis Picabra, Marcel
Duchamp, Man Ray, Kurt Schwitters, Hannah Höch, and very many other
fine individualists, too.
But,
Dada, in its original form, only lasted until 1922. Its reason for
being had run out of steam. No war and nothing to object to.
And,
nowadays, Dada still lives on as a living Dada museum. There are
still many Dada groups throughout the world. And, they faithfully
continue to put on, perform and recite original Dada. And, the
Cabaret Voltaire has become a shrine to the sacred memory of Dada
and Hugo Ball.
And,
why not? Dada, after all, was a movement that burned with a passion
of white hot feeling. Dada questioned, rejected and questioned again.
Nothing was sacred, not even Dada itself.
Dada's
demise was due to its attempts at self-regulation and
the making of rules. And, that wasn't Dada! Dada was a child of its
time that sadly never grew up! And that, in a way, was Dada as well.
Nj – 2016
Vocabulary
demise
– the end
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?
Nj – 2016
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