The Sheridan Libraries’ collection of materials relating to Dada, one of the most significant avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, is among the finest in the United States. These materials include the first four issues of the journal Dada (1917–9) published in Zurich by Romanian-born Tristan Tzara (1896–63), a seminal figure for the Parisian Dadaist group who went on to publish additional issues in Paris.

While a safe distance away from the carnage of World War I in neutral Switzerland, Tristan Tzara and his Dadaist colleagues used this journal as their literary and artistic mouthpiece to creatively—and cunningly—undermine the values that were bringing the world to the brink of total destruction. The outcome is an unmistakable style that would go on to influence nearly every subsequent avant-garde movement around the world.

Conservation Treatment

All issues need to be stabilized with minor papers repairs and rehoused so they may be used by students, faculty, and researchers.

Dada: recueil littéraire et artistique. No. 1, July 1917.

 

Dada: recueil littéraire et artistique. No. 4/5, May 1919.