Post #554545 by Phillip Roberts on Fri, Sep 17, 2010 11:41 PM

Aloha,

First off,

Ben,

I am sorry we missed each other when you were here last month.

Second,

Sven,

Let me thank you deeply for your review of Waikiki Tiki: Art, History and Photographs.

**"The effigies of the Hawaiian ancestors and their neighboring brothers have been studied, discussed and displayed in museums as valued cultural heirlooms for over a century. In the meantime, their populist likenesses were marginalized as tourist art, neglected and forgotten. It is time that 20th Century Tiki gets recognized as unique art form that had its own time, place and meaning for a different, new generation of islanders and visitors from all cultures. Waikiki Tiki makes an essential contribution to the appreciation of this Polynesian pop culture."

• Sven Kirsten
  Author of "The Book of Tiki" and "Tiki Modern"**

You speak glowingly of my project and I am humbled by your words.

Additionally James, I appreciate your strong bold paragraph.

** "Waikiki Tiki is a fascinating and richly illustrated portrait of how the new incarnation of tiki--forever changed by its appropriation into mainland pop culture--has triumphantly returned to its homeland to inspire, entertain, and educate generations of kama'aina and haole alike."

• James Teitelbaum
  Author of "Tiki Road Trip", and "Big Stone Head: Easter Island and Pop Culture"
  **

Duke, you also sent a wicked cool review... nui LOA to you all.

**

One would think that finding Tikis in the tourist capital Waikiki would be like shooting fish in a barrel. This is not the case. It takes the kind of passion and perseverance that Phillip Roberts has to unearth the evidence of Tiki's rise, fall, and rise again in Hawaii. On first visit to Waikiki with my wife on our honeymoon, we'd just been married in an old mainland Tiki bar, we thought we'd find Tikis at every turn. During our visit, and on subsequent trips, we only managed to find traces of Tiki's heyday. But with Phillip's thorough research, this book gives a fuller, clearer picture of Tiki's history and newfound popularity on the island.

• Duke Carter
  Author of "Tiki Quest: Collecting the Exotic Past."

**

On to the issue at hand...

On 2010-09-16 13:48, bigbrotiki wrote:

I sympathize: I have had locations like that, that look great in person, but are impossible to squeeze into a frame.
With the Hawaiain Hut and Chuck's Steakhouse gone now, the Wailana Coffee Shop lounge is one of the last authentic old style environs left in Waikiki. Not mindblowing, simple in many ways, but because of its rarity, now a gem.

OK, you hit the nail squarely on the head here, Sven.

This is EXACTLY my point. I have been LUCKY to get these shots over the years and they just don't all TRANSLATE to celluloid. This is GREAT ART and a view of Waikiki that has NEVER been seen before. And there's a lot more out I will find now after this is out. I have already had 4 new leads to follow up on and will post results.

I hope artists get some NEW material that inspires them to create some great work. One has already. Her painting in a unfinished state already thrills and chills me to the bone.

My Photographs are rare glimpses into a Waikiki never before seen in such detail and focus.

There is NOTHING like the smell of a new book.

Peace,

Phillip.