Exhibition Picnic Time

A picnic in the park, un déjeuner sur l’herbe – the activity of eating together in natural surroundings is popular all over the world.

People have been enjoying this pastime as far back as the Ancient Greeks, and with the invention of the picnic basket in England in the eighteenth century, dining en plein air became a social event. With the aid of photographs, films, installations and objects, this exhibition takes a closer look at our fascination with picnicking, traversing various epochs and cultural contexts. For instance, what is the nature of the lavish picnics during the Henley Royal Regatta in England? How do people picnic on the world’s highest mountains? How do they do it in the Middle East? And how did people picnic in Japan during the cherry-blossom season at the turn of the nineteenth century? Picnic utensils from a wide range of cultures and contexts – from the finest lacquerware, crystal glassware and silver cutlery to the pragmatic and practical plastic ensembles of the modern day – all tell tales of just how varied this popular cultural practice is. The exhibition is accompanied by numerous events and installations inviting museum-goers to come and picnic in the surrounding Metzlerpark.

Felix Pestemer will contribute a selection of documentary drawings of the Mexican Day of the Dead festivities taken from his graphic novel ‘Dust of the ancestors’ in the section Picnic on the graveyard.

Museum Angewandte Kunst

Schaumainkai 17
60594 Frankfurt
T + 49 69 212 44539 (Foyer)
T + 49 69 212 31286 / 38857 (Information)
www.museumangewandtekunst.de

opening hours
Mo closed
Tue, Thur to Sun 10 am to 6 pm
Wed 10 am to 8 pm