Post #349999 by bigbrotiki on Mon, Dec 17, 2007 12:37 PM

On 2007-12-12 18:59, christiki295 wrote:
I also wonder if it is why most of the carvers are not Hawaiian?

I am always surprised to find that there is still confusion about that. I thought that the Book of Tiki made completely clear that mid-century Tiki style (and now the revival inspired by it) is an AMERICAN pop culture phenomenon that never could have originated in the Polynesian islands. Only men unburdened by the weight of tradition and native religion could have come up with such whimsical freestyle interpretations of another culture, creating an art genre in itself.

As I demonstrate in TIKI MODERN, American Tiki fever actually has more in common with the early 20th Century European fascination for "foreign" art. Except for New Zealand, were there were always carving schools, and the Marquesas/Tahiti, where there always was enough tourist demand, the art of Tiki carving was just as dead as the practice of ancestor worship in Polynesia.

Of course there are exceptions, and I am not denying native carvers their right at interpreting their ancestral art, but the essence of Tiki style, that what made me get into it, lies in its happy un-authenticity, which stems from outsiders interpreting a culture they are inspired by.