Is it art, or is it rubbish? "Only the Dadaists know what Dada is. And they won't tell anyone." False! "Dada was a bombshell," explains artist Hans Arp, at least in hindsight. He and his allies, including Max Ernst, J. T. Baargeld, and Heinrich and Angelika Hoerle, light the fuse amidst the hustle and bustle of Cologne in the Roaring Twenties: As Arp's and Baargeld's works are banned from an exhibit at the Kunstgewerbemuseum on Hansaring by the museum's director, Cologne's offshoot of the DADA movement rents out a new creative space - the atrium of the Weinhaus Winter on Schildergasse - in spring 1920. In keeping with the movement nationwide, the "DADA Vorfrühling" exhibit seeks to experiment with and provoke new things. The resulting scandal in the art world is not far behind: The presentation guided viewers through a men's lavatory, girls in communion attire recited salacious verses, and there was suspicion of printing adverts for a gay brothel. Works such as "dadaists, empty barrels and bears play together", "i only greet malingerers", and "athlete max ernst training at the 100 meter post" are shown. The public is encouraged to immediately destroy any works they don't like with an axe, which is provided to them. They will be quickly replaced. Security guards watch the avant-garde goings-on like hawks, and the police shut down the event after a visitor falls into a frenzy of rage. The jubilation of all involved - "DADA triumphs!" - is only temporary, and the movement in Cologne is on its last legs. Many of its most important figures emigrate to Paris.
Rüdiger Müller