Post #762190 by BeachcomberNC on Sat, Apr 9, 2016 8:08 PM

Without having been involved in the previous debate, I must say I never considered Tiki to be racist.

Here's my 2 cents as a former art history major.
During the mid 20th century the dominant trend in the fine arts was modernism, which took its roots in primitivism, or being inspired by the artworks of so called "primitive" cultures. To be inspired by another artist is not derogatory, but is probably the highest compliment one artist can give another. Picasso's cubist phase created some of the most influential works of the 20th century, and If you look at them, the primitive influence is obvious. Last year, I saw a beautiful exhibit of Matisse's work, some of which was inspired by his travels in Tahiti. And if you go to any art museum large enough to have international collections (Egyptian, Roman, Japanese, etc.) you will probably find an Oceanic section full of beautiful artwork, I know the MFA in Boston has one. Also, with air travel only recently being commercialized, there was a fascination with all things foreign and exotic.

Personally, I see Tiki as the high culture trends at the time getting filtered down to pop culture. High fashion influences street fashion, which in turn influences high fashion.

Additionally, Tiki doesn't portray, or even attempt to accurately duplicate a real culture or historic time period. It's pure fantasy. Certainly racist (and sexist) undertones were prevalent in pop culture during the mid century period (just watch the first episode of Mad Men), but I don't think the tiki fad can be blamed for intentionally perpetrating them, and that any racist elements were merely an unintentional reflection of the society they were created by.