Travel Between The Pages

When I was young, I was fascinated by the early 20th century Dada Movement. I even sported a button with I.K. Bonset’s moto “Je suis contre tout et tous” . So, I was excited to discover that the Museum of Modern Art in New York was exploring the Dadaists in a new exhibition called Dadaglobe Reconstructed. The show focuses on a failed project organized by Dada founder Tristan Tzara. In 1920, the poet gathered more than 100 works from Dadaists artists and writers in 10 countries for an anthology to be titled Dadaglobe. The compilation was supposed to include photos of artworks, original drawings, photo self portraits, and layouts for book designs.

The project never reached fruition due to disagreements among the participants and financing problems. But Tzara managed to secure contributions from Dada icons such as Max Ernst, Man Ray, Hannah Höch, Jean Arp, marcel Duchamp, and Francis Picabia. The MoMA show brings together 100 pieces from Dadaglobe that have been scattered in collections around the world for nearly a century. The show runs through September 18, 2016.