Introduction                                     download text

Officially, Dada was born on the 5th of February 1916 when Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings opened the literary-artistic Cabaret Voltaire in the restaurant Meierei at Spiegelgasse 1 in Zürich. We are happy to underline this official point of view with the welcome letter by Ambassador Robert Reich. In his journal „Flight out of Time“, Hugo Ball describes this legendary opening night as follows: “The place was packed; many people were not even able to get inside. Close to 6 p.m., when they were still busily hammering and hanging futuristic posters, a deputation of four oriental looking little men appeared, carrying portfolios and pictures; they kept bowing discreetly. They introduced themselves: Marcel Janco the painter, Tristan Tzara, George Janco, and a gentleman whose name I missed. Arp also happened to be there and we just communicated without using a lot of words....