Digital Dada library preserves early anti-art movement
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Artists and theorists in the early 20th century, reacting to the devastation of World War I, formed the Dada movement as a protest against what they saw as the failures of rational thought and established culture.
They believed traditional justifications for art were meaningless in a world marked by mass death and sought to dismantle conventional artistic standards. The group published numerous journals, magazines, and books to share their ideas and experimental techniques, challenging the dominant culture of the time.
The University of Iowa now hosts the International Dada Archive’s Digital Library, which makes scores of these original Dada publications available online. The archive includes major periodicals originating from cities like Zurich, Berlin, and Paris, as well as books and ephemeral publications like exhibition catalogs. Though many Dada artists were later forced to leave Europe or silenced by the Nazi regime, their work continues to influence artists today.
The Digital Dada Library preserves these original publications, mostly in their original European languages, with some documents available in English through other online sources, including the influential American journal 291.
