Dadas

Dadas refers to the adherents of Dada, an avant-garde art and literary movement that emerged in the early 20th century as a reaction against conventional aesthetics and the social norms that many believed had contributed to World War I. The movement began in Zurich in 1916, centered at the Cabaret Voltaire, where artists and writers such as Hugo Ball and Tristan Tzara organized performances, created provocative writings, and published manifestos that rejected logic, reason, and traditional art.

From Zurich, Dada spread to other European capitals and developed distinctive local flavors. In Berlin (circa 1918–1920) Dadas engaged in political satire, provocative performances, and photomontage by figures such as Hannah Höch, George Grosz, and John Heartfield. In Paris and New York, Dada groups experimented with language, chance, and visual collage, linking with artists including Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray. The movement emphasized anti-art sentiment, spontaneity, nonsense, and the subversion of artistic norms, often through provocative humor, readymades, and experimental typography and sound.

Dada was never a single coordinated organization but a loose network of groups across cities, each pursuing similar aims through different means. Its influence extended beyond its peak years, shaping later avant-garde movements such as Surrealism, Fluxus, and various strands of conceptual art. By the mid to late 1920s, Dada as a cohesive movement waned, but its emphasis on disruption, experimentation, and questioning of art’s premises left a lasting imprint on modern art and culture.