Tiki: the real thing library.

I'm interested in building a library of books featuring "real" tikis. I'd like to know about the actual native carvings of humans/gods/spirits, etc. that we give that name to, not headdresses and wooden bowls.

I thought this might be helpful to a lot of TCers who want to find out more about the real thing. If there is already a thread like this let me know.

Until someone writes "The Book of Real Tikis" can someone make some book-buying suggestions?

I own "Arts of the South Seas" and "Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art" and both are very weak in the Tiki department. Bigbrotiki has recommended the 1954 "Oceanic Art", which I'm about to purchase. The internet has been nearly useless.

Help!

Robb,
I've been a used & rare bookseller since 1991, and I've yet to see anything quite as concise & valuable as "Oceanic Art." A lot of the other styles are covered individually in exhibit catalogs & monographs, but rarely lumped together multi-regionally as tiki carvings. Here are a few other possibilities:

Suzanne Greub Expressions of Belief: Masterpieces of African, Oceanic and Indonesian Art.
Christine Price Made in the South Pacific
Fred Picker Rapa Nui
Jo Anne van Tilburg Easter Island: Archaeology, Ecology and Culture
Michael Gunn New Ireland: Art of the South Pacific

You might want to PM Basement Kahuna about this: I know he references "Oceanic Art" quite a bit, and may know of some others. I've greatly enjoyed Eva Ayala's "Miguel Covarrubias: 4 Visions" for its expose on how another artist viewed the various styles of tiki art. I also have a few of the titles on hand I mention, but I strongly urge you to wait until you've digested "Oceanic Art" before spending anymore money on books.

BTW, my wife & I purchased your velvet from the Hukilau exhibit, and we couldn't be prouder parents.

AKA Pahoehoe Ule! !uSathane omhlophe umthondo omkhulu!

[ Edited by: White Devil 2009-07-03 04:16 ]

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=26061&forum=7

That would be an excellent project, to produce such a book.

There are so many good books about authentic Polynesian art it's hard to know where to start, but one I scored recently that I would rate near the top of my list is "Art and Life in Polynesia" by Terence Barrow. There are plenty of other good recommendations in the existing book threads and you're better off focusing on culture-specific titles (rather than catch-all Oceanic art titles, with a few obvious exceptions) to really get the best reference sources you can.

Another discussion thread:
Oceanic Art - Books (going to the source)

[ Edited by: Paipo 2009-07-02 14:45 ]

Thanks guys, both of the links above cannot be resurrected often enough, as they should inspire the casual Tiki fan to dig deeper. There is a lot of scattered info out there. Though we all know and appreciate the fact that Polynesian pop is by definition NOT concerned with the deeper meanings of Tiki gods, it is indeed frustrating for those who want to know more that there are no concise answers to many of the questions about the names and meanings of the various deities of the Polynesian people.

The reason why, and the reason why there will never be ONE authoritative work on the ancient Tiki traditions is that much of the knowledge is based on conjecture. The two facts that A.) Pacific ancestor worship religions were based on AURAL transmission and not on WRITTEN texts like in the West, and B.) that Westerners, mostly the missionaries, did a darn good job eradicating these pagan beliefs, has left a lot of holes in many island traditions. There are SOME stories and myths that have been recorded and saved into the 19th and 20th century, but not enough to recreate the complete pantheon of all the gods that once reigned the Polynesian netherworld.

Thanks everyone. I'm checking out all the links and appreciate the info.

http://www.amazon.com/Oceanic-Art-Adrienne-L-Kaeppler/dp/0810936933

This has been my inspiration since I found a copy in 2000 at the Cal Poly library in San Luis Obispo when I was getting my art degree. There were many more smaller books with some good insightful history, but this one has an extensive visual history plus some background. After graduating, there were many things missed in S.L.O but one was the Oceanic Art section of the library. I would take dozens of books off the shelves eat my lunch in the back of the aisle and spend hours hidden away. I would go from reading a little, to sketching, to just vegging out looking at the carvings. Luckily my wife found me a used copy a few years ago for me!

I just pulled the book out from the shelf to inspire some new Pupu platter dishes and bowls that I'm working on for Tiki Oasis this summer!

You won't be disappointed with this book Robb!

Thanks Tikitony. Based on the pics posted of the contents of the book, this one looks like an absolute must have.