L.2013.6.6: Cabaret Voltaire

Cabaret Voltaire was a Zurich nightclub founded in February 1916 by the artist Hugo Ball. The club became a gathering place for avant-garde artists, poets, and musicians who had fled their native countries and the War for the relative safety of neutral Switzerland. Although artists of various avant-garde movements were featured in its exhibitions and performances, Cabaret Voltaire is best known as the birthplace of Dada. It also gave its name to the first of the Dada magazines, which was published only once. Ball issued the magazine in two nearly identical versions, one titled in French and one in German. Both versions include poems in French, German, and Italian and feature a cover illustration by Jean Arp.