A DaDa Chronology

A Brief Chronology of DaDa

(as drawn from various sources)

1915
1. After World War I is declared in Europe, a number of artists, including the future DaDaists Hans Arp, Hugo Ball, Marcel Janco, and Tristan Tzara all converge on Zürich, Switzerland, which remains neutral throughout the war.
2. While in Zürich, many of these artists and writers continue to publish and exhibit their works; having taken strong anti-war views themselves, their art also shows such opinions of disgust towards the activities of the rest of the continent.
1916
1. In February, the Cabaret Voltaire is founded as a meeting-place for several artists and writers in Zürich.
2. The word "DaDa" is discovered in a dictionary and embraced as the name for the new movement by its members (Tristan Tzara is usually given credit for this discovery).
3. Richard Huelsenbeck travels from Berlin to Zürich to meet with the DaDaists.
4. In June, the first issue of "Cabaret Voltaire" appears.
5. July marks the first "DaDa Evening" ("DaDa Soirée"), which becomes something of a DaDaist convention.
6. In September and October, Richard Huelsenbeck publishes a pair of DaDa-inspired books.
1917
1. This is the year of the revolutions in Russia, and the year the U.S. enters WWI against Germany; despite this, there is some DaDa influence in the U.S. and Russia: various modern art exhibits are held in the U.S. which also showcase DaDa-inspired works, and the DaDa movement begins to have an influence on Russian dance.
2. Picabia publishes the periodical "391" in the U.S. and Spain.
3. Richard Huelsenbeck returns to Berlin, and founds a DaDa-movement there.
4. The "Galerie DaDa" opens in Zürich, featuring works by Tzara, Arp, and Ball. The Second and Third "DaDa Evenings" are held there.
5. The periodical "Dada" is published (issues 1 & 2).
1918
1. "Club Dada" and "Der Dada" are published in Berlin with contributions by Huelsenbeck, Johannes Baader, George Grosz, Raoul Hausmann, Franz Jung, John Heartfield, Walter Mehring, and Gerhard Preiss.
2. In Cologne, another DaDa-group is formed by Max Ernst, Johannes Theodor Baargeld.
3. After hearing of the DaDa movement in Zürich, a number of artists in Paris, including Aragon, Breton, Eluard, Soupault, and Ribemont-Dessaignes, become interested in DaDa.
4. The first public DaDa event in Berlin is held in March, and the first German DaDa-manifesto is publicized in April.
5. Tzara's "25 poems" are published in July, with illustrations by Arp.
6. An exhibit entitled "Die Neue Kunst" ("The New Art") is held in Zürich in September, featuring works by several of the dadaists.
7. "Dada" issue #3 is published in December.
1919
1. The dadaists in Berlin come out publicly against the Weimar Republic.
2. Hans Arp joins the dadaists in Cologne. "Der Ventilator" and "Bulletin D" are published.
3. Kurt Schwitters begins his "Merz" in Hannover, with the publication of "Anna Blume."
4. "Dada 4/5" and "Der Zeltweg" are published in Zürich.
5. Tristan Tzara leave Zürich for Paris.
1920
1. The "Dada-Almanach" is published in Berlin.
2. Hausmann and Huelsenbeck give a lecture tour on DaDa in Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Prague.
3. A DaDa exhibition, with works by Picabia, Arp, and Ribemont-Dessaignes, takes place in Geneva.
4. A DaDa exhibition in Cologne is closed down by the police.
5. "Dada" #6 & #7 are published, "391" continues to be published, and Picabia publishes his "Cannibale."
6. Arp leaves Cologne for Paris, where a "DaDa festival" takes place in May.
7. The "Erste Internationale Dada-Messe" takes place in Berlin in June.
1921
1. The DaDa journal "Bleu" is published in Italy.
2. Duchamp and Man Ray publish "New York Dada."
3. Picabia and Breton withdraw themselves from the dadaism movement.
4. A dada exhibition featuring the works of Max Ernst takes place in Paris.
1922
1. Max Ernst leaves Cologne for Paris, dissolving the Cologne DaDa group.
2. The DaDa-journal "Mecano" is published by Theo van Doesburg in the Netherlands.
3. Picabia and Breton publish works attacking the dadaists, who led by Tzara, publish a counter-attack, but the Paris DaDa group also dissolves.
4. A "Congress of the Constructivists" is held in Weimar in October, which is attended by a number of the German dadaists.
1923
1. Duchamp, in New York, gives up painting.
2. Two final dada stage performances are held in Paris during the summer.
1924
1. After a publication of a surrealist manifesto by Breton, most of the remaining dadaists join the surrealism movement.
2. Schwitter's publication "Merz" continues to be published off and on for several more years.