Papillon Dada, Tristan TZARA 1919-1920.
Dada. A word that is reminiscent of childhood. Of the first words spoken during early years. Games. A playground. At the beginning of the 20th century a group of artists chooses the name to launch the movement they have created. It is 1916. The world is in the middle of bloody global conflict. Nothing is going right. At the terrace of a Zurich café, Tristan Tzara, Hans Arp, Marcel Janco and others decide to say “Merdre!” (like “Furck !” in english, a famous play of words in the play Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry, a Dada precursor) to this absurd period. To upset conventions and shake things up. To bring life into this cold room of death that Europe has become, introducing laughter and an element of absurdity. Dada, according to one of its founders Hugo Ball, is “a buffoonery born of nothing”. With its Italian etymology “buffoonery” reminds of the Commedia dell’ Arte. Comedy in its purest form. Happiness in no half measure. More than anything Dada is a real cultural movement. Because it is not fixed. It is reacting. Reacts to everything that surrounds it. Dada does not only reminds us of childhood. Dada is a child. He questions and disrupts without any great intellectual speeches. He does collages, makes puns, does fancy dress and surprises its audience. Obviously the critics’ attention. A couple of years after being launched, it inspires Andre Breton and his surrealist group. A century later, it is Cire Trudon’s turn. So lighting your Dada candle, let yourself be carried away by its turbulent scents. Wake your childhood memories up. And say a great big liberating “Furck!”