Release Date: February 2, 2006

National Gallery of Art
Offers Activities Related to the "DADA" Exhibition
February 19–May 14, 2006

–Premieres Special Guide for High School Students–

Washington, DC – A diverse program of lectures, films, and concerts are among the many activities the National Gallery of Art will offer in conjunction with the Dada exhibition (February 19–May 14, 2006), the first major museum exhibition in the United States to explore in-depth this influential avant-garde art movement.

Please note: All programs are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information, call (202) 737-4215, visit the Web site at www.nga.gov, or inquire at the Art Information Desks.

EXHIBITION GUIDES

Adult Guide
The eight-page full-color guide, inspired by the many illustrated Dada publications in the exhibition, will be available at the entrance to the exhibition free of charge.

Student Guide
For the first time, the Gallery will offer a special exhibition guide for high school students. The 16-page full-color student guide will be available at the entrance to the exhibition free of charge.

LECTURE PROGRAM

What is Dada?
February 19, 2:00 pm
East Building Auditorium
Leah Dickerman, associate curator, modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art

The Return to Unreason: The Meaningful Nonsense of Dada Film and Music
March 5, 2:00 pm (See “CONCERTS” below for more information)
East Building Auditorium
Martin Marks, senior lecturer in music, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dada: Man Ray in Paris
March 12, 2:00 pm
East Building Auditorium
Susan Laxton, visiting assistant professor of modern and contemporary art, Barnard College/Columbia University

Marcel Duchamp and the Great American Thing
March 19, 2:00 pm
East Building Auditorium
Francis M. Naumann, independent scholar and author of New York Dada and Making Mischief

Man Ray, Dudley Murphy, and the Making of Le Ballet mécanique
April 23, 2:00 p.m.
East Building Auditorium
Susan Delson, independent scholar

Baroness Elsa and Dada
May 14, 2:00 pm
East Building Auditorium
Irene Gammel, author of Baroness Elsa, a prize
winning biography and René Steinke, author of Holy Skirts, a fictionalized account of the Baroness’ life, recently nominated as a National Book Award Finalist

GALLERY TALKS

All Gallery talks will begin at the East Building Art Information Desk.

Dada: An Overview
February 22, 28; March 28; April 22; May 13, 12:00 p.m.
March 30, 31; April 1, 5, 12, 1:00 p.m.

Dada in New York
February 23; April 26, 12:00 p.m.
May 14, 1:00 p.m.
April 4, 2:00 p.m.

Dada in Berlin
March 7, 9, 11, 16, and 23, 1:00 p.m.

Dada in Cologne
April 12, 18, 20, 23, and 24, 12:00 p.m.

SCHOOL PROGRAM

High School Studio Workshops
An in-depth tour of the exhibition followed by a one-hour, hands-on studio session.
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
March 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29
April 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 24, 25, 26
May 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
To register, please call (202) 842-6905.

TEACHER PROGRAM

J. Carter Brown Memorial Evening with Educators
Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 4:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Offered in collaboration with the Kennedy Center, this evening program features a slide lecture and self-guided tour of the exhibition, musical performance, teaching materials, and refreshments. Prior registration is required. For more information, please call (202) 842-6796.

AUDIO PROGRAM

Narrated by Director Earl A. Powell III, this tour includes commentary by Leah Dickerman, associate curator of modern and contemporary art, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Anne Umland, curator, department of painting and sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; and archival recordings, including interviews with Marcel Duchamp and Richard Huelsenbeck, and sound poems.

WEB SITE

The National Gallery of Art is planning a special feature on Dada at http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/dadainfo.shtm

FILMS

Dada and World War I
April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 2:00 p.m.
East Building Auditorium
A series focusing on World War I and its aftermath will be presented on Sunday afternoons in April. The series includes restored 35mm archival prints of Abel Gance’s J’accuse! (1919), Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (1957), Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Charlie Chaplin’s Shoulder Arms (1918), Raymond Bernard’s Les Croix de bois (1932), Gaumont and Pathe newsreels from 1914 to 1919, and a screening/lecture devoted to Le Ballet mécanique (1924).

CONCERTS

Jazz Pianist Larry Eanet and Ensemble
West Building, West Garden Court
February 26, 6:30 p.m.
Jazz from the World War I era, including music by Django Reinhardt.

Martin Marks and The Aardett
East Building Auditorium
March 5, 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Music by Erik Satie and others will be performed with Dada-era films.
2:00 p.m.: the films Retour à la Raison and Emak Bakia by Man Ray, La coquille et le clergyman by Germaine Dulac, and Entr'acte with the score of Erik Satie (75 minutes total).
6:30 p.m.: the films Entr'acte, There It Is, Paris qui dort; and French songs by Erik Satie and/or Poulenc (between 90 and 100 minutes).

Le Ballet mécanique
East Building mezzanine
March 12–May 7
Weekdays at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m.; Weekends at 1:00 p.m.
An orchestra of automated musical instruments, including sixteen player pianos, will be programmed to play a portion of composer George Antheil’s score for the Fernand Léger film, Le Ballet mécanique (1924). The installation will be activated for a seven- to ten-minute demonstration.

The Alloy Orchestra
East Building Auditorium
March 11, 4:30 pm (teen audience program)
March 12 at 6:30 p.m. (regular audience program)
Dada films, including Anémic Cinéma (1926), Le Ballet mécanique (1924), Rhythmus 21 (1921), and Ghosts Before Breakfast (1927), will be screened and accompanied by live music performed by the Alloy Orchestra. Members of the orchestra, an ensemble that performs on found instruments, will answer audience questions after the performance.

Ute Lemper
East Building Auditorium
April 29, 4:30 p.m.
The world-renowned German vocalist will perform a cabaret concert in honor of the exhibition.

GALLERY SHOPS

During the exhibition, visitors to the Dada Shop will be able to choose from a large selection of books and music CDs; related merchandise such as spinning tops, false mustaches that can be worn, cube word games; paper products such as make-your-own stationery and collage kits, notebooks, address books, postcards, a 2007 wall calendar, and bookmarks; sterling silver jewelry; a coffee mug, posters, and a sculpture reproduction of Marcel Duchamp’s readymade, Roue de bicyclette (Bicycle Wheel.)

CAFÉ DADA

Terrace Café
East Building, Terrace Level
Sundays, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Overlooking the entrance to the exhibition, the Terrace Café will offer a relaxing coffeehouse atmosphere with a selection of salads, sandwiches, and specialty drinks and desserts.

EXHIBITION PUBLICATIONS

The exhibition catalogue for the U. S. venues is published by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in association with D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers, Inc.) and includes essays by Leah Dickerman, Brigid Doherty, Dorothea Dietrich, Sabine T. Kriebel, Janine Mileaf, Michael R. Taylor, and Matthew S. Witkovsky. The catalogue is currently available from the National Gallery of Art Web site at www.nga.gov or by phone at (202) 842-6002 or (800) 697-9350 ($65.00 hardcover, $40.00 softcover, 536 pages, 403 color and 217 black-and-white illustrations).

The Dada Seminars, a collection of 12 essays, is the first in a series of publications based on scholarly seminars held by the National Gallery of Art's Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts. It was published by the Gallery in association with D.A.P, with support from the Paul Mellon Fund. The publication includes essays by Leah Dickerman, Matthew S. Witkovsky, George Baker, T.J. Demos, Uwe Fleckner, Hal Foster, Amelia Jones, David Joselit, Marcella Lista, Helen Molesworth, Arnauld Pierre, and Jeffrey T. Schnapp, and is edited by Dickerman with Witkovsky. The publication is currently available from the National Gallery of Art Web site at www.nga.gov or by phone at (202) 842-6002 or (800) 697-9350 ($45.00 hardcover, $25.00 softcover, 320 pages, 136 black-and-white illustrations).

EXHIBITION SUPPORT

Dada was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in collaboration with The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation and the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation.

Additional support for the exhibition has been provided by the Annenberg Foundation and Thomas G. Klarner.

The brochure is made possible by Aaron and Barbara Levine and Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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National Gallery of Art Offers Activities Related to the "DADA" Exhibition February 19–May 14, 2006

National Gallery of Art
Offers Activities Related to the "DADA" Exhibition
February 19–May 14, 2006