Excursions & visites Dada: 1ère visite, Eglise Saint Julien le Pauvre, jeudi 14 Avril

Dada artists embraced the creative potential of chance, randomness, and spontaneity. This flyer invites participation in a Dadaist walk around Paris, an event hosted by movement founder Trista Tzara. The aim was to gather a group to tour some unconventional urban sites such as abandoned lots, churches, and the morgue. Shunning a "picturesque" wander around the city in favor of sites that "don't really have a reason to exist," this type of freewheeling meander invited participants to see the city with fresh eyes, fueling creativity.

The typography of the flyer likewise communicates randomness and the juxtaposition of disparate elements. The text varies in font, size, and orientation, with some phrases being entirely upside-down. Surrounding the concrete information of the event itself are evocative phrases such as ”cleanliness is the luxury of the poor/be dirty” and ”you have to cut your nose like your hair.”

Unfortunately for Tzara, the poor weather that day led to sparse attendance. The rain and cold impeded the group from traveling far, and Tzara thought the event was a failure. Some argue that this event marked the “end” of Dada.