This, of course, is the name of the revolutionary cultural movement that electrified Europe a century ago. And it all began in this cramped nightclub, which hosted an ‘entertainment’ that lent its name to Janco’s painting – the Cabaret Voltaire.

According to its co-founder, the German poet Hugo Ball (the pianist in Janco’s painting), Janco was present for the opening night of the Cabaret Voltaire, on 5 February 1916. “The place was packed,” Ball noted in his diary. Whatever occurred that night clearly excited the audience of artists and bohemians, since, not long afterwards, Ball made another entry in his diary: “Everyone has been seized by an indefinable intoxication. The small cabaret is about to come apart at the seams and is going to be a playground for crazy emotions.” Janco’s painting memorably captures the “intoxication” and “crazy emotions” that the Cabaret Voltaire unleashed.

Today, the Cabaret Voltaire is still going strong in the same building in the Swiss city where it first began. Earlier this year, it marked the centenary of Dada’s foundation by initiating a vibrant daily programme of performances and events. Recently, I visited the venue and spoke to its director, Adrian Notz, to find out how this modest, medieval building, in Zurich’s old town, came to witness the birth of one of the most important avant-garde movements of modern art.