Dada was a unique artistic movement which changed entirely the 20th century art. It was established in Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, in 1916, by a group of poets, painters and philosophers in exile. The Dada soirees were characterized by spectacular shows, and included simultaneous poetry, avant-garde music, and dancers wearing masks. The shows involved teasing and enraging the audience, challenging all values of Western culture and art, which were considered obsolete in view of the destruction and carnage of the Great War. The Dadaists objected to the traditional aesthetics of their contemporaries in painting, sculpture, language, literature and music. The group published manifests and periodicals and mounted exhibitions. The years of their joint activity didn’t last long, but the seeds sown in Zurich spread all over the world.
