Banksy’s satirical Picnic contrasts a group of indigenous African hunter-gatherers bewildered by the Picnic of a White middle-class urban family picnicking on the beach. The contrast between civilizations and technologies suggests irreconcilable differences between civilizations. Oblivious of the hunter-gathers, the family is at ease and enjoying the beach. To the hunter-gathers, the family might as well be extraterrestrials.
Banksy’s take on this is opposite Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s Roadside Picnic, in which the satire is reversed. The Earthlings are perplexed and mystified by the Alien’s “picnic” debris. Also, William B. Montgomery. Industrial Picnic (1986).
Featured Image: Banksy. Picnic (2005). Medium unknown. Private Collection