Cabaret Voltaire

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Cabaret Voltaire

Cabaret Voltaire is the birthplace of Dada. This space focuses on the interdisciplinary heritage of the Dadaists. Dieses ist 1950 entfernt worden.
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In the entrance area is the Dada Library, in the vaulted cellar there are temporary exhibitions, and weekly events are held on Tuesdays. Cabaret Voltaire will be renovated and is therefore closed until January 2022. Visit our website for more information on our special program during this period. Geburtsort Cabaret Voltaire

Es war nur eine kurze Episode, ein halbes Jahr «Cabaret Voltaire» zwische

n Februar und Juni 1916, die sich in der Liegenschaft Spiegelgasse 1 abspielte. Bekannt ist, dass die Dadaisten den 1885 geschaffenen Saal auf der Hinterseite des Gebäudes nutzten und dass die Wände schwarz und die Decke blau gestrichen waren. Der Saal ist noch vorhanden, er wurde aber in den 1950er-Jahren kräftig umgebaut. Nicht einmal die heutigen Saalfenster mit ihrem auffälligen Stichbogensturz stammen aus der Zeit des Cabaret Voltaire. Man hat 1950 die ursprünglich noch viel grösseren Rechteckfenster historisierend verkleinert. Untersuchungen an den Wänden des Saals ergaben, dass alle vorgefundenen Farbschichten aus der Zeit von 1950 und später stammten. Unter diesen jungen Farbschichten kam eine Backsteinwand zum Vorschein, die ursprünglich mit einem Täfer verkleidet gewesen sein muss. Auch die blaue Decke ist heute nicht mehr vorhanden. Somit finden sich – zumindest an den untersuchten Stellen – nicht einmal mehr Farbspuren des Zustandes von 1916. Aus der Zeit stammen der Grundriss und die Raumhöhe, sowie die Gusseisensäulen im Innern des Saales. Das Säulenpaar stützt seit 1885 die darüber stehende Hausfassade, die einfach hilft die Decke zu tragen und reicht bis in den mächtigen Gewölbekeller hinunter.

07/05/2026

SAVE THE DATE – Opening «DadaZwischenSprachen»: 5 June 2026, from 18:00

Opening Hours Exhibition: 18:00–22:00
Welcome and Introduction: 19:00
Performance by Katalin Ladik: 19:30

The exhibition «DadaZwischenSprachen» is dedicated to the language experiments of the Dada movement, which originated in 1916 at Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. Since no audio or film recordings of the original performances exist, prints, reports, sketches, and scores provide insight into the events of that time. Sound poems and simultaneous poems were performed, animal voices imitated, and the propaganda language of the First World War was turned upside down. Experiences of migration, violence, and precarity were artistically processed through physical and vocal forms of expression. Alongside historical documents, works from the post-war period to the present connect with those impulses.

Contributors (Selection): Katalin Ladik, Babi Badalov, Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings, Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco, Marietta di Monaco, Richard Huelsenbeck, Hans Arp, Hans Richter, Maria d'Arezzo, Friedrich Glauser, Blaise Cendrars, Lina Lapelytė, Thomas Hirschhorn, Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader, Ladislav Novák, Ewa Partum, Yello, Talking Heads.

The exhibition and accompanying programme are the result of a collaboration between the University of Zurich (Prof. Dr Sandro Zanetti, Department of Romance Studies, Division of General and Comparative Literary Studies) and Cabaret Voltaire (Salome Hohl), funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF Agora project «Dada between Languages»). Contributors include Prof. Dr Tomáš Glanc (University of Zurich, Institute of Slavic and East European Studies) and Monica Unser (Cabaret Voltaire).

Design: Samuel Bänziger

10/03/2026

In the third act of contemporary contributions within the exhibition «Suzanne Perrottet. After Dada, After Dance», New Kyd presented their performance «Chanson Noire» at Cabaret Voltaire on February 26, 2026. The performance was developed in collaboration with Marquis McGee and produced by RESTLESS collective.

Until March 25, 2026, various traces and symbols that emerged during the creation and staging of the performance unfold from the corridor into the exhibition space, bearing witness to an activation that extended from the Historical Hall to Suzanne Perrottet’s archives.

The objects, traces, and works—both sonic and material—form a constellation of orienting points within the artist’s cosmology, showing key references that shaped the development of the performance. The piece takes the Dadaist Chant N_ as its point of departure—specific program elements of the Dada soirées in Zurich, during which Oceanic and African poetry and songs were appropriated in an effort to unsettle Western thought and language. From this starting point, the work opens a field of references through which it seeks new narratives grounded in Dada’s anti-war ethos.
In keeping with Dada’s interdisciplinary and culturally multi-perspectival spirit, the project also resonates with Suzanne Perrottet’s commitment to humanity and liberation. More broadly, New Kyd’s artistic approach—marked by collaged narratives and a playful embrace of rebellion and absurdity—can be understood as deeply embedded within the historical and conceptual framework of Dada.

New Kyd also presented the Happening Jam «Political Marketplace!» in collaboration with Kymbali Williams as part of their artistic intervention within the exhibition «Suzanne Perrottet. After Dada, After Dance». The Jam was co-produced with Tanzhaus Zurich and takes place again on March 20, 2026, at Tanzhaus Zurich.

Photo: Romain Mader

05/03/2026

Looking back at «Red Cabaret», a Soirée featuring two performances by Marlène Charpentié () and Billy Morgan () at Cabaret Voltaire on February 3, 2026.

While the performing body is at the center of the exhibition «Suzanne Perrottet. After Dada, After Dance» at Cabaret Voltaire, the evening explored the body as a site of both emancipation and s*xualization. As early as 1916, the Cabaret Voltaire drew on the codes of red-light districts to blend disciplines and provocative discourse. In particular, women protagonists of the movement, such as Emmy Hennings and Suzanne Perrottet, used the medium of the body on stage to break free from the constraints of their time and express themselves freely—yet paradoxically, they were often reduced to their bodies as objects of desire.

In their respective performances, Marlène Charpentié in «La Diva des Coeurs Brisés» and Billy Morgan in «Hotelle» each engaged with the codes of cabaret and erotic performance, drawing on burlesque aesthetics and stories of desire, in an evening that connects an often overlooked aspect of Dada with contemporary practices.

Curated by Monica Unser

Image 1–4: Marlène Charpentié, «La Diva des Coeurs Brisés»
Image 5–8: Billy Morgan, «Hotelle»
Photo: Romain Mader

03/03/2026

«Hauptsache kein Zeitgeist»
Roman

Buchpremiere | Lesung & Gespräch mit Hayat Erdoğan .erdogan
Moderation: Salomé Meier
Der Anlass ist auf Deutsch
Pay what you want: 5/10/15 (Abendkasse oder Eventfrog)

Ein Mädchen lernt auf einer Trommel den Takt der türkischen Nationalhymne. Jahre später steht ihre Mutter vor der Tür und zieht sie an der Hand zurück nach Deutschland. Nochmals Jahre später wird sie verlassen von einem Mann, den sie Niemand nennt, die Sehnsucht nach Niemand wird sie nicht mehr los. Alles, nur nicht zynisch werden.

In «Hauptsache kein Zeitgeist» breitet sich in 24 aufregenden Stunden die Gegenwart vor uns aus wie ein gewebter Teppich. Während die Erde am 6. Februar 2023 in der türkisch-syrischen Grenzregion bebt, gerät auch das Leben der Erzählerin ins Wanken. Draussen zittert die Welt und sie durchlebt einen inneren Ausnahmezustand, der Vergangenheit, Privates und Politisches, Schmerz und Schönheit miteinander verwebt.In einer zärtlichen Trauer-Odyssee gräbt sie sich durch Erinnerungen. Die Kindheit in der Türkei, mythologische Reisen, Liebeserklärungen auf Bergen und Figuren, die so schräg wie faszinierend sind: der Experimentalfilmer Werner, die Literaturkritikerin Elisabetta mit ihren Klavierabenden, die Ziege der Nene, ein Geist namens James Joyce und Niemand, der mit ihr Sonnenuntergänge am Meer teilt.

Hayat Erdoğan ist Dramaturgin, Autorin und Kuratorin, u.a. Co-Direktorin am Theater Neumarkt (2019–2025). Dies ist ihr Debütroman.

26/02/2026

On February 13, the Happening Jam «Political Marketplace!» by New Kyd , in collaboration with Kymbali Williams , took place at Cabaret Voltaire, co-produced with Tanzhaus Zurich . The Jam is a space where boundaries between performers and audience dissolved, testing modes of interaction and political tools through the liberating legacy of Dada. The next Jam follows on Friday, March 20 at Tanzhaus Zurich, this time also in collaboration with Marquis‘ McGee .

––
Tonight, February 26, 20:00
New Kyd presents their second contribution within the exhibition
«Suzanne Perrottet. After Dada, After Dance»:

«Chanson Noire»
✨ one night only ✨

This work brings sound, body, mask, and spirit into ecstatic defiance.

In collaboration with Marquis’ McGee and Fredi Thiele .fredi.
Special thanks to Tanzhaus Zürich for their support. In addition to the jam, New Kyd’s performance «Immersive Dance Concert: I’ll Meet You at the End» will be presented at Tanzhaus on March 21, 2026.

Photos of the «Political Marketplace»:
Images Romain Mader : 1–3,5, 7, 8, 9–11, 13–16, 18
Images Liah Sinquefield : 4,6, 12, 17, 19–20

17/02/2026

New Kyd, «Chanson Noire»

As part of the exhibition «Suzanne Perrottet. After Dada, After Dance»  Performance: February 26, 2026, 20:00 With live music by Marquis’ McGee
Exhibition through March 25, 2026

How can a human attempt to appropriate and create a bird song? But without irony?
How to do this?
How to become a hooded pitohui or a blackbird, perhaps even, just a symbol for one?
A true one, with sincere integrity?

The evening brings together music, dance, experimentation and political allegory. It moves between dance, performance art and staged unravelling. Calling in darkness, while flying as close to the light as bearable possible. Singing an ancient song while dancing in the silence of the moonlight. A lament with the entire body.

The work addresses Marcel Janco’s 1916 Dadaist designs for Chant n_— in which African and Oceanic art, poetry, and music served as important sources of inspiration. In her memoirs, Suzanne Perrottet describes how deeply she was moved by them.

«Chanson Noire» and the «Political Marketplace» by New Kyd (February 13, 2026) draw on the experimental legacy of Cabaret Voltaire while testing contemporary modes of politically charged performance and social political critique.

Admission: pay what you can (CHF 10/15/25) Presale on Eventfrog

05/02/2026

Today marks the 110th anniversary of the founding of Cabaret Voltaire on 5 February 1916. The big celebration will follow on the 111th birthday. Vive Dada!

Almost every evening, Emmy Hennings performed Hugo Ball’s «Totentanz» at the Cabaret Voltaire – to the melody of the Dessau March «So leben wir, so leben wir, so leb’n wir alle Tage» («This is how we live, this is how we live, this is how we live every day»). Ball also had postcards printed with the poem. A statement by Ball further suggests that these or similar cards may have been dropped over the front lines in 1918 as anti-war propaganda.

The processing of wartime experience—such as in the «Totentanz»—through linguistic experimentation was one of the central themes. Sound poems like Ball’s «Karwane» addressed migration, while other poems dealt with the precariat—so this was by no means merely «nonsense.»

More on this and other linguistic Dada experiments from 1916 in the exhibition «DadaZwischenSprachen». Opening: 5 June 2026. Announcement soon!

Image: Schweizerisches Literaturarchiv (SLA), Bern. Nachlass Hennings-Ball, SLA-HEN-D-01-D-04-a.

29/01/2026

CALL TO ACTION: Political Marketplace! at Cabaret Voltaire, on Friday, February 13, 2026! A concept by New Kyd in collaboration with Kymbali Williams  Live foley music from guest Marquis’ McGee

Hi… Welcome to the Political Marketplace. New Kyd together with Kymbali Williams sets a Happening Jam in motion — a hybrid between performance and improvisational jam — following the liberating spirit of Dada and their «Chant N_»*, inside the Historical Hall of Cabaret Voltaire. The main objective is to coexist without a fixed performer/audience divide. There are possible roles and tasks, yet much remains open, fluid and free. Understand this: this is not a performance. It is an artistic endeavor and a political experiment.
The Jam Session is particularly compelling in the context of the exhibition «Suzanne Perrottet. After Dada, After Dance» because Perrottet considered references to non-Western art to be among the most fascinating aspects of the Dada Soirées. Throughout her life’s work, she was committed to ensuring that dance and performance were accessible to everyone, with improvisation and the liberation of the body at their very core.

Please RSVP: [email protected] with the subject ‘I AM AWAKE’. Then we can send the info sheet to prepare. The event is held in English.

*The censored form is used to highlight the racist meaning of this term without reproducing it. In their efforts to transcend boundaries in Western thought, lifestyle, or the arts, Dadaists uncritically drew on non-European languages and objects—yet attributed to them the same value as Western practices and exhibits. The implicit or explicit racist elements contained therein must nevertheless be critically reflected upon.

28/01/2026

First session tonight!

Once a month, «dears, write» invites you to write in the company of others, in resonance with texts, voices, and bodies.

The meeting starts with a reading of selected texts followed by a writing session. At the end, we share one sentence from our texts, and weave them in a collective composition.

At the gathering on January 28, excerpts from the following texts with be read: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, and Ekke, by Klara du Plessis.

«dears, write» takes place once a month in the Dada Library, from January to May 2026. The event series is initiated by DEARS – magazine for transversal writing practices at the crossroads of poetry, art and experimental writing, and intends to explore sustainable ways of relating through writing.

The reading and writing group is open to anyone interested. No registration needed.

Free entrance.

23/01/2026

Tuesday, February 3, 2026, 20:00: «Red Cabaret», a Soirée with performances by Marlène Charpentié and Billy Morgan

As early as 1916, the Cabaret Voltaire drew on the codes of red-light districts to blend disciplines and provocative discourse. In particular, women protagonists of the movement, such as Emmy Hennings and Suzanne Perrottet, used the medium of the body on stage to break free from the constraints of their time and assert self-expression—yet paradoxically, they were often reduced to their bodies as objects of desire.

In their respective performances, Marlène Charpentié and Billy Morgan each engage with the codes of cabaret and erotic performance, drawing on burlesque aesthetics and stories of desire, in an evening that connects an often overlooked aspect of Dada with contemporary practices.

In Marlène Charpentié’s performance «La Diva des Coeurs Brisés», a vampire: La Diva des Cœurs Brisés, queen of a forgotten cabaret, sings her lost love with a deep and dark voice. In her solitude, time seems to drag on forever. All that remains is a black feather boa, patent leather heels and dead flowers symbols of past vanity. In a slow, dreary, and humorous tableau, the grotesque becomes a critical strategy.

In Billy Morgan’s performance «Hotelle», a pianist plays through the night, transiting through a series of states, times and landscapes. Here, the hotel’s architecture becomes the means of her disorientation – divided, into so many rooms. In the want of wanting, Hotelle’s personas mediate desire, s*x and class through space itself; the hotel bar, early morning.

Credits for «La Diva des Coeurs Brisés»: Performance: Marlène Charpentié
Sound creation: Sophie Conus
Costumes: Josiane Martinho
Dental prosthesis: Kenny Perrier

Credits for «Hotelle»:  Concept, performance, text, piano score and light design: Billy Morgan  Advised by Marija Cetinić and Tom K Kemp  With thanks to Simón Palazzi

Admission: pay what you can (CHF 10/15/25)
The event will be held in English.

Supported by: Pro Helvetia

Curated by Monica Unser

Images:
2: Marlène Charpentié. Photo: Yoshiko Kusano
3: Billy Morgan. Photo: Gergely Ofner

22/01/2026

Since this week, Elaine Mitchener has been in dialogue with the exhibition «Suzanne Perrottet. After Dada, After Dance» at the invitation of OOR Saloon (Aio Frei & Franziska Koch ).

On Sunday, 18 January 2025, Mitchener transformed the Dada founding hall with «The Body Is The Score – 1. Betty», an energy-charged performance developed specifically for this context, bringing the spirit of Betty Baaron Samoa into the space. Thank you to everyone who joined us!
For those who missed it: a recording of «The Body Is The Score – 1. Betty» has been reworked into a sonic trace and is presented within the exhibition until 25 February 2026.

The work continues Mitchener’s engagement with Black experimental artists and composers of earlier generations, foregrounding colonial power structures and racialised language—including within the avant-garde and Dada itself.
Betty Baaron Samoa danced and worked with both Suzanne Perrottet and Rudolf Laban at Monte Verità, yet her presence and contribution were largely erased—due to s*xism, racism (she is the only non-white body in the known Monte Verità images), and class inequality.
Only Perrottet mentions her by name, describing her as a talented dancer.

Following the performance, Elaine Mitchener spoke with researcher and curator Irene Revell about the research process, embodied forms of notation and memory work, and ways of addressing the gaps produced by colonial archives.

The performance and the sonic contribution further develop OOR Saloon’s curatorial-artistic approach, rooted in ongoing engagement with queer-feminist performance practices and embodied, score-based work.

Photos: Johanna Bommer (image 7-10 cropped for Instagram)

suzanneperrottet dada

Adresse

Spiegelgasse 1
Zürich
8001

Telefon

+41432685720

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http://www.cabaretvoltaire.ch/

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