Skip to main content

Dada’s Women: Legacies at the Dada Centenary and Beyond

Dada’s Women: Legacies at the Dada Centenary and Beyond

The European Dada movement of the early 20th century was long regarded as a male preserve in which women were relegated to footnotes or mentioned only as the wives, girlfriends, or sisters of Dada men.

Highlighting the interventions of Dada’s women

Dr Ruth Hemus’ ground-breaking research challenged that assumption. Her research and publications centre on five individuals, Emmy Hennings, Sophie Taeuber, Hannah Höch, Suzanne Duchamp and Céline Arnauld, who made important interventions across fine art, literature, and performance in Zurich, Berlin and Paris. Their techniques and approaches were characteristic of Dada’s rebellion against aesthetic and cultural conventions, but their work also proves them to have been innovators, not imitators.

Impact on curators

Hemus’ book Dada’s Women (2009) has directly informed and shaped the curation of exhibitions in Switzerland, Italy, Norway and the U.K. Her research has also provided the source material for mixed-media outputs by contemporary artists, commissioned for museums and galleries in Zurich, Glasgow and Newcastle. In the context of public discussions around women in the arts, and greater acknowledgement of the work of female artists in major exhibitions, these outcomes are especially timely. A recognition of both historical and contemporary women artists has been paramount.

Collaborations with art practitioners

Hemus’ research has inspired and shaped the work of artists and led to a partnership with Sonia Allori, a composer, musician and music therapist, and Vaia Paziana, a visual artist with strong community links. Their collaborative artworks include a mixed-media installation at the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, a performance of music and words at Wasps Studio, Glasgow, and digital animation with soundtrack for a festival co-organised by the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich) and Central St. Martin’s. Principles of accessibility and participation underpin their project.

Reaching out with education  

Building on attention commanded by the Dada centenary in 2016, Hemus delivered public lectures at The Cabaret Voltaire (founding place of Dada in Zurich) and The University of Zurich. More recently (2019) she spoke at The Academy of Arts in Oslo (KHIO) and gave a talk as part of a weekend of cabaret events at the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter.

For the past few years Hemus has co-organised workshops for school pupils, university students, and community groups as part of Royal Holloway’s associate partnership with Tate Exchange, London. In interactive sessions participants produce chance poetry and visual collages, offering a novel way of learning about the practices of women of the avant-garde. Creative and engaged outcomes bear witness to the relevance of Dada’s women one hundred years on.

 

Photograph by Vaia Paziana

Explore Royal Holloway

Arrivals Sept 2017 77 1.jpg

Get help paying for your studies at Royal Holloway through a range of scholarships and bursaries.

clubs-societies_REDUCED.jpg

There are lots of exciting ways to get involved at Royal Holloway. Discover new interests and enjoy existing ones.

Accommodation home hero

Heading to university is exciting. Finding the right place to live will get you off to a good start.

Support and wellbeing 2022 teaser.jpg

Whether you need support with your health or practical advice on budgeting or finding part-time work, we can help.

Founders, clock tower, sky, ornate

Discover more about our academic departments and schools.

REF_2021.png

Find out why Royal Holloway is in the top 25% of UK universities for research rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.

Immersive Technology

Royal Holloway is a research intensive university and our academics collaborate across disciplines to achieve excellence.

volunteering 10th tenth Anniversary Sculpture - research.jpg

Discover world-class research at Royal Holloway.

First years Emily Wilding Davison Building front view

Discover more about who we are today, and our vision for the future.

RHC PH.100.1.3 Founders south east 1886.w

Royal Holloway began as two pioneering colleges for the education of women in the 19th century, and their spirit lives on today.

Notable alumni Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

We’ve played a role in thousands of careers, some of them particularly remarkable.

Governance

Find about our decision-making processes and the people who lead and manage Royal Holloway today.