The Birth of an Avant Garde Art Movement
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Hugo Ball performing at the Cabaret Voltaire |
Beatrice Wood with Marcel Duchamp and Henri-Pierre Roché |
A cardboard outfit. A clientele of artists who rejected capitalism. Nightly entertainment centered around reciting of manifestos. Hugo Ball’s business style for the Cabaret Voltaire blew my mind. When my partner, Lisa, presented her idea to host salon-style breakfasts every Sunday at the gallery, I was beside myself. Yes, there was a precedent for shotty decision making in the art world. But still, “let’s give away free food and coffee….in perpetuity” was not what every bookkeeper longs to hear. I gave in to Lisa; not because I liked her idea, but because we added mimosas to the menu.
Under the direction of Hugo Ball and his partner Emmy Hennings, the Voltaire became the birthplace of the Dada movement. Under the direction of Lisa Casoni and myself, the Porch Gallery became the home of “Sundays at the Porch” and, eventually, the birthplace of Beato Chocolates.
We felt that a company inspired by Beatrice “The Mama of Dada” Wood needed to pay homage to the beginning. The flavors in Saturday Night at the Voltaire are meant to recreate the flavor of a late night cocktail and the energy of the birth of an avant garde art movement.
Stay tuned,Heather
Co-Founder of Beato Chocolates