What does tiki mean to you? - General Tiki

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Mon, Oct 21, 2013 9:18 PM On 2013-10-21 11:43, lucas vigor wrote: there is a movement from some of the leading people to separate anything to do with Hawaii out of "tiki". That's just contention, YOUR black & whiting of my way of defining Tiki as its own art form - born out of your chip-on-your-shoulder you have about the perceived exclusion of Hapa Haole music from Tiki. Of course Hawaii plays a major role in Tiki style: Its statehood, its tourist culture, down to the very first Hawaiian music craze in the 20s: They all contributed to it in major ways - they are just not IT! Tiki is what happened to all that stuff AFTER middle-class Americans took and embellished and recreated it at home, and added their own imagination to it. Hawaiiana and Hapa Haole also just don't grab me the way Tiki and Exotica do, so yes, I may be selective and subjective by picking what I think are the defining elements of Tiki. But the fact is, there are are so many exotic, tropical places in the world of which tourist souvenirs can be found in thrift stores: Tourist/vacation pop culture is simply not as unique and singular (and creative) as the mainland recreation of it that is Tiki. That's why I shun the simplistic equation of Hawaii = Tiki. People take this stuff so personal: I was explaining this years ago here, and some woman from Hawaii wrote: "So you think our culture is boring, huh !?" which is absurd: I love Hawaii, the original culture and its pop Hawaiiana version - it's just not Tiki by itself.

On 2013-10-21 11:43, lucas vigor wrote:
there is a movement from some of the leading people to separate anything to do with Hawaii out of "tiki".

That's just contention, YOUR black & whiting of my way of defining Tiki as its own art form - born out of your chip-on-your-shoulder you have about the perceived exclusion of Hapa Haole music from Tiki.

Of course Hawaii plays a major role in Tiki style: Its statehood, its tourist culture, down to the very first Hawaiian music craze in the 20s: They all contributed to it in major ways - they are just not IT! Tiki is what happened to all that stuff AFTER middle-class Americans took and embellished and recreated it at home, and added their own imagination to it.

Hawaiiana and Hapa Haole also just don't grab me the way Tiki and Exotica do, so yes, I may be selective and subjective by picking what I think are the defining elements of Tiki. But the fact is, there are are so many exotic, tropical places in the world of which tourist souvenirs can be found in thrift stores: Tourist/vacation pop culture is simply not as unique and singular (and creative) as the mainland recreation of it that is Tiki. That's why I shun the simplistic equation of Hawaii = Tiki.

People take this stuff so personal: I was explaining this years ago here, and some woman from Hawaii wrote: "So you think our culture is boring, huh !?" which is absurd: I love Hawaii, the original culture and its pop Hawaiiana version - it's just not Tiki by itself.

Post #696971 by bigbrotiki on Mon, Oct 21, 2013 9:18 PM