Anti-bourgeois, anarchist, and pacifist, Dada offered sharp social criticism and biting satire, questioning prevailing values ​​as well as political and social conditions and dynamics, especially those that had led to the catastrophe of the First World War. Founded in 1916 during the war, the movement's end is generally placed in the early 1920s, but artists like George Grosz, Hannah Höch, and John Heartfield later used art to fight against the rise of National Socialism. The National Socialists considered Dada "degenerated."

The art of the Dadaists is colorful, loud – and by no means uniform. They employed a wide variety of styles and produced literature, poetry, plays, paintings, prints, collages, and photographs. Yet, the political is a central common denominator, a thread running through the movement's work and expressing itself in diverse and unexpected ways. On its 110th anniversary, “Open your minds at last!” celebrates the Dada art movement and demonstrates the continued relevance of its political engagement.

Featuring works by, among others, Johannes Baader, Hugo Ball, Erwin Blumenfeld, Paul Citroen, Otto Dix, Otto Griebel, George Grosz, John Heartfield, Marta Hegemann, Emmy Hennings, Hannah Höch, Heinrich Hoerle, Richard Huelsenbeck, Franz Jung, Walter Mehring, Rudolf Schlichter, Kurt Schwitters, and Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

The accompanying program includes a performance by Rocko Shamoni on May 31, 2026. The musician, writer, and actor will speak with us on the occasion of the exhibition about Dada, nonsense, absurdity, and humor as stylistic devices and tools in art. The event is being held in cooperation with Ox Fanzine.

The exhibition is supported by the Gerd Kaimer Citizens' Foundation Solingen, the Arts Foundation NRW and the LVR Regional Cultural Funding Program.