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Cabaret Voltaire was the name of a short-lived artistic nightclub in
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () i ...
, Switzerland in 1916 (revived in the 21st century). It was founded by
Hugo Ball Hugo Ball (; 22 February 1886 – 14 September 1927) was a German author, poet, and essentially the founder of the Dada movement in European art in Zürich in 1916. Among other accomplishments, he was a pioneer in the development of sound poetry. ...
, with his companion Emmy Hennings, in the back room of Holländische Meierei, Spiegelgasse 1, on February 5, 1916, as a
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...
for artistic and political purposes. Other founding members were
Marcel Janco Marcel Janco (, ; common rendition of the Romanian name Marcel Hermann Iancu ; 24 May 1895 – 21 April 1984) was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist. He was the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading exponent of Cons ...
,
Richard Huelsenbeck Carl Wilhelm Richard Hülsenbeck (aka Charles R. Hulbeck) (23 April 189220 April 1974) was a German writer, poet, and psychoanalyst born in Frankenau, Hessen-Nassau who was associated with the formation of the Dada movement. Life and work Huelse ...
,
Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...
, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp and
Jean Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Str ...
. Events at the cabaret proved pivotal in the founding of the anarchic art movement known as
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...
. In 2013, the Cabaret Voltaire performances were collectively ranked by Dale Eisinger of ''Complex'' as the 25th best work of performance art in history. Cabaret Voltaire closed in the summer of 1916, but the Cabaret was revived in the same building in the 21st century.


History

Switzerland was a
neutral country A neutral country is a state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, CSTO or the SCO). As a type ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and among the many refugees coming to Zürich were artists from all over Europe. Ball and Hennings approached Ephraim Jan, patron of the ''Holländische Meierei'' at Spiegelgasse 1, which had already hosted Zürich's first literary cabaret, the ''Pantagruel'' in 1915. Jan permitted them to use the back room for events. The press release on 2 February 1916 announcing the opening of the club reads:
The Cabaret Voltaire. Under this name a group of young artists and writers has formed with the object of becoming a center for artistic entertainment. In principle, the Cabaret will be run by artists, permanent guests, who, following their daily reunions, will give musical or literary performances. Young Zürich artists, of all tendencies, are invited to join us with suggestions and proposals.
The cabaret featured
spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...
, dance and music. The soirees were often raucous events with artists experimenting with new forms of performance, such as
sound poetry Sound poetry is an artistic form bridging literacy and musical composition, in which the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded instead of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; "verse without words". By definition, sound poe ...
and simultaneous poetry. Mirroring the maelstrom of World War I raging around it, the art it exhibited was often chaotic and brutal. On at least one occasion, the audience attacked the cabaret's stage. Though the cabaret was to be the birthplace of the Dadaist movement, it featured artists from every sector of the avant-garde, including Futurism's Marinetti. The cabaret exhibited radically experimental artists, many of whom went on to change the face of their artistic disciplines; featured artists included
Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj;  – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...
,
Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
,
Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...
, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and
Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...
. On July 28, 1916, Ball read out his '' Dada Manifesto''. In June, Ball had also published a journal with the same name. It featured work from artists such as the poet
Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French French poetry, poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish-Belarusian, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered ...
, and had a cover designed by Arp. The cabaret closed in the summer of 1916. While the Dada movement was just beginning, by 1917 the excitement generated by Cabaret Voltaire had fizzled out, and the artists moved on to other places in Zürich such as the Galerie Dada at Bahnhofstrasse 19, and later Paris and Berlin.


21st century revival

After the turn of the millennium, the building which had housed Cabaret Voltaire in 1916 had fallen into disrepair, and in the winter of 2001/2002 a group of artists describing themselves as neo-Dadaists, organised by
Mark Divo Mark Divo (born 1966) is a Swiss-Luxembourgish conceptual artist and curator who organizes large-scale interactive art projects incorporating the work of underground artists. His work involves painting, performance, photography, sculpture, and ...
,
squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
the building to protest its planned closure. They declared that it was a signal for a new generation of artists to align themselves with a revival of
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...
. Over a period of three months there was a number of performances, parties, poetry evenings and film nights. Among the participating artists were
Ingo Giezendanner Ingo Giezendanner (born 1975) is a painter and installation artist and member of the Kroesos Foundation. He lives and works in Zürich, Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and gove ...
, Lennie Lee,
Leumund Cult Jan Theiler, alias Pastor Leumund (born 1967) is a German artist, musician and political activist. In the 1990s, he was an influential curator, performance artist and musician on the underground scene organising large-scale music and performance ...
, Mickry3, xeno volcano, elektra sturmschnell, Aiana Calugar, and Dan Jones. The building was decorated on the outside as well as the inside. Thousands of people from around Zürich took part in the experiment. On April 2, 2002 police evicted the occupants. A new cabaret has since opened in the building, with an extensive programme of events such as, ''Hugo Ball: Fuga saeculi,'' in 2008, curated by Bazon Brock and included a performance of Gabriella Daris' corporeal poem ''LopLop: WORD or WOman biRD'' (an homage to
Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...
's namesake collage from 1921) as well as a film projection by
Werner Nekes Werner Nekes (29 April 1944 – 22 January 2017) was a German experimental film director, and a collector of historical optical objects. Biography Born in Erfurt, Nekes grew up in Duisburg and went to school in Oberhausen and Mülheim. From 1963 o ...
'','' and the 2008 exhibition ''Dreamachine: David Woodard, Sheela Birnstiel, Christian Kracht.'' More recently, Cabaret Voltaire has adopted personalities and celebrated them as Dadaists, such as
Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (also referred to as Olexandr, Oleksandr, or Aleksandr; uk, Олександр Порфирович Архипенко, Romanized: Olexandr Porfyrovych Arkhypenko; February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian and American ...
,
Tatsuo Okada (1900–1937) was a Japanese avant garde artist, illustrator, graphic designer, typographer editor and a member of the radical Japanese performance group Mavo. Work Okada is known for his Dada-like performances and for his 1925 installation ...
and
Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary ...
. Cabaret Voltaire sponsored the restoration of Bakunin's grave plate in the Bremgarten cemetery in Bern, adding a portrait by Swiss artist
Daniel Garbade Daniel Garbade (born 1957) is a Swiss painter, illustrator, art director, property master, and publisher. Born in Switzerland from Swiss-Cuban origins, Garbade is the grand-nephew of Adrien Lachenal, great-grandchild of Cuban sculptor Fernando H ...
and the Bakunin quote: "By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible." In 2020, the first season of the television show ''The Fugitive Game'', which focusses on German poet Emmy Hennings, was filmed on location at Cabaret Voltaire.Whittingham, Clive
"Fugitive, MO Studios strike deal"
C21Media, October 5, 2020.


In popular culture

* The electronic band Cabaret Voltaire was named as so in reference to the club, drawing inspiration from Dadaism and incorporating it in their earliest albums.


References


External links

*
Dada and Surrealism: Texts and Extracts
archive from 10 December 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich) Dada Underground culture Modernist theatre Culture of Zürich Squats Former squats