best spots in hawaii? - Tiki Travel

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Tue, Aug 7, 2012 9:00 PM Thank you Alii to enlighten us about the history of that sacred spot, I am fascinated by that place, and the believers' valor in the face of inevitable loss. On 2012-08-07 18:27, nomeus wrote: so if hawaii isnt really the origin and home of tiki, where does it come from? how did it get to hawaii. based on what ive been seeing and reading, it seems as if its more of a CA thing that was brought to hawaii. Who said that? :) You are partially correct, but one has to differentiate: America's love affair for Hawaii, with all its intriguing history and art, was THE important factor that INSPIRED the mainland Tiki style. But more than that, American Tiki style encompassed not only Hawaiian, but ALL Polynesian island arts and culture -in a purely popular manner, so it became Polynesian Pop. In the mid- to late 50s, the TIKI became the symbol of this popular mainland fad, thus marking the beginning of TIKI STYLE: Because of America being so far away from the original source, American developers and designers felt free to interpret and embellish the original art forms, with authenticity becoming secondary, and thus a pop culture genre of its own was created. The artists in the Hawaiian Islands had to be more culturally sensitive to create anything else but close-to-the-original reproductions of the Idols - if they did it at all. All the other Hawaiian symbols - the Hula girl, the palm tree, pineapple, palm hut, outrigger, ukelele, flower leis, were freely commercialized as souvenirs. But that form of tourist culture is not unique, it is created by any vacation destination country. That is why I am saying that Hawaiiana like the HULA GIRL are not "Tiki" per se - they are, and, (especially before the term "Tiki Style" ever existed), always were....a Hawaiian Hula girl, a palm tree, a pineapple, etc... What I am warning you about is that American midcentury "TIKI" is hard to find in Hawaii, (as are good examples of its Tiki Revival) - but its sources are fun to discover, and the rest is not too shabby either, as one can see in my previous photo thread. :D [ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2012-08-07 21:33 ]

Thank you Alii to enlighten us about the history of that sacred spot, I am fascinated by that place, and the believers' valor in the face of inevitable loss.

On 2012-08-07 18:27, nomeus wrote:
so if hawaii isnt really the origin and home of tiki, where does it come from? how did it get to hawaii. based on what ive been seeing and reading, it seems as if its more of a CA thing that was brought to hawaii.

Who said that? :) You are partially correct, but one has to differentiate: America's love affair for Hawaii, with all its intriguing history and art, was THE important factor that INSPIRED the mainland Tiki style. But more than that, American Tiki style encompassed not only Hawaiian, but ALL Polynesian island arts and culture -in a purely popular manner, so it became Polynesian Pop.

In the mid- to late 50s, the TIKI became the symbol of this popular mainland fad, thus marking the beginning of TIKI STYLE: Because of America being so far away from the original source, American developers and designers felt free to interpret and embellish the original art forms, with authenticity becoming secondary, and thus a pop culture genre of its own was created.

The artists in the Hawaiian Islands had to be more culturally sensitive to create anything else but close-to-the-original reproductions of the Idols - if they did it at all. All the other Hawaiian symbols - the Hula girl, the palm tree, pineapple, palm hut, outrigger, ukelele, flower leis, were freely commercialized as souvenirs. But that form of tourist culture is not unique, it is created by any vacation destination country.

That is why I am saying that Hawaiiana like the HULA GIRL are not "Tiki" per se - they are, and, (especially before the term "Tiki Style" ever existed), always were....a Hawaiian Hula girl, a palm tree, a pineapple, etc...

What I am warning you about is that American midcentury "TIKI" is hard to find in Hawaii, (as are good examples of its Tiki Revival) - but its sources are fun to discover, and the rest is not too shabby either, as one can see in my previous photo thread. :D

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2012-08-07 21:33 ]

Post #647377 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Aug 7, 2012 9:00 PM