Post #383493 by Kenike on Fri, May 30, 2008 7:50 AM

I just dont get this huge cult fascination with Tiki culture.

Let's put aside for a moment all of the dollar signs associated with tiki.

Tiki culture means different things to different people, however one very distinguished member of Tiki Central posted something a few years ago (2004 I think) that explains tiki's fascination in a simple but descriptive and meaningful manner. I loved it so much I copied it and still re-read it quite often. For me, this is why I enjoy tiki culture as much as I do:

"The human need for a paradise on earth is eternal since Adam and Eve were cast out of it. Upon the discovery of the Polynesian islands in the 1800s, people believed they had found this lost haven. Thus Polynesia became the equivalent of Paradise, the antidode to all the ailments of civilized man. This need was so strong that a culture of it's own, apart from the realities of a people and a place, took hold in the common mind. We now call this Tiki culture.

Even though in this day and age it has been proven that no human culture without conflict and strife exists, Tiki culture recognizes and embellishes the human need for the ideal of an earthly paradise, playfully re-enacting the concept. Tikiphiles ignore the jaded rational facts of today's over-informed world and fulfill their emotional needs by indulging in yesterday's naivitee.

All the while we are fully conscious of course that we are just playing a game...right?"

• Sven Kirsten