Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich) - Definition and Overview

The Cabaret Voltaire was founded on February 5, 1916 by Hugo Ball in Zürich as a cabaret for artistic and political purposes. It was situated above a theatre, where art exhibitions were displayed. The works in the Cabaret would make fun of the serious works downstairs. These cabarets were usually for the focus of experimenting or up and coming artistic groups. The Surrealists, who were descended directly from the Dadaists, used it as a forum for their art.

It fell into disrepair, and in the winter of 2002 a group of artists that described themselves as neo-Dadaists, organised by Mark Divo occupied the Cabaret Voltaire. They claimed that this was a signal for a new generation of artists to align themselves with a revival of the Dada movement. Over a period of three months there were a number of performances, parties, poetry evenings and film nights. Among the artists to take part were Ingo Giezendammer, Mikry Drei, Lennie Lee, Leumund Cult, Aiana Calugar and Dan Jones. The building was decorated on the outside as well as the inside. Thousands of people from around Zurich took part in the experiment. On March 2, 2002 the police evicted the occupants since which time the building became a museum dedicated to Dada.