Tiki Ambassadors

Since joining this forum (recommended to me by one of my palmwood suppliers) I've seen the coolest tiki creations. Excellent carvings, paintings and jewelry, as well as molded forms and ceramic work. All of you are to be commended for your commitment and dedication to tiki art. Regardless of our goals as artisans, we have one common thread that links us together. We are all potential ambassadors of Tiki. Therefore, I encourage you to show your work. Let it be seen, both on this forum and (even more important) out in public. How and why you exhibit your creations is not as important as the exhibition itself. As we all know, the Art of Tiki possesses a strange and potent magic. Most people don't know why they like it; they just like it. And the more tiki art they see, the more they'll appreciate, buy, collect, and perhaps create their own tiki art. So, by exhibiting we will:

1. Elevate an awareness of Tiki as a legitimate art form.
2. Gain public acceptance and appreciation for our work.
3. Motivate other artisans to create Tiki art.
4. Inevitably see and experience more Tiki art and culture in and around our communities.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox...

nice words Tiki Mon. I have a hard time considering my tikis art. I think of "art" as something that's challenging culture, I feal like I'm just supplying culture. Maybe I feal this way, because I have a fine arts education, where craft alone was not considered enough to be thought provoking. I'm not saying that you couldn't use tiki as a vehicle to make something thought-provoking, but it will probably never be considered "fine art". Maybe thats my confusion, "fine art" vs. "art", is there a difference? Also, the cultures that we have "borrowed" tiki from is hardly considered. Chiki tiki and I were just talking about this dillema as were others in the post "Just a piece of wood?" by jungletrader. Since we are mimicing a cultural artifact to make it our own, we dillute the original meaning of these once religous/ ancestoral images. Since the start of the Polynesian Pop era carvers have created a new genre which allowed non-islanders the permission to carve tikis, but I still struggle with whether I'm harmfully misrepresenting Polynesian culture or not. Because all of us here embrace tiki, and purchase tiki, it sometimes makes me forget about the cultures which I'm taking from. I wonder, if there's anyway we could repay (not monetary) the culture we borrow from? I think one of the most brilliant people we have on TC is Basement Kahuna, he knows more about cultural tools, and implements that he shares with us, more than anyone I can think of. He knows polynesian pop but also cultural background which we should all take the time to learn, because thats the meaningful knowledge that should be passed along, especially since that's the cultures we're borrowing from. By knowing the cultural signifigance of artifacts and sharing, maybe this could be our contribution back to Polynesian cultures. So, to get back to your OG(original) words Tiki Mon, the artists here should learn and share their knowledge of Oceanic cultural when displaying their work. After all, its not just wood, paper, canvas, metal, or clay when we're finished with it! tHanks for the post Tiki Mon.

tiki tony:

well said!

Tiki Tony,
Right on, brah! I totally respect the work of traditional carvers and their contribution in honoring the very essence of tiki. If I possessed the skill of Basement Kahuna and yourself I might even try my hand at traditional carving. But I know my limitations. Maybe, I'll save that endeavor for retirement. Anyway, I guess I'm fortunate enough to live in the Tiki epicenter of Florida...perhaps even the entire eastern USA. Although the presence of tiki culture here is mostly bastardized, its very common and still fun. For instance, I personally know eight professional tiki carvers working within a 30 mile radius of my shop. Three of us are full timers and the other five have "real" jobs. It's great to see another tiki carver at an art show. Each of us in his or her own way is keeping the faith, opening eyes, and spreading the word!

On 2004-01-26 20:35, Benzart wrote:
Hey,,TikiMon,TikiChris,and TikiTony. How is it goin.I joined this forum after this thread ended and have not been here too long and I guess I talk Too much.Anyway this is a Good topic. Back when I was carving Tikis and other stuff, I had no computer and was very localized.The carvers of today Are the Ambassadors of the Tiki carvers culture. We don't have to make Fine art, ot caartoons or Authentic art, I'm sure the Ancient masters had rebelious sons that carved what their Daddies wanted, then turned around and added their own flourish to up-date it.
If I was still carving, I would make sure every customer visited Tiki Central,both to see the bigger picture and to see what they are getting is current ,quality stuff. Imagine a client buys a TIKI and is taken to this site and finds out about the Culture, the People, the Carvers and Happenings. That person is gonna be blown away and be back for more so fast Gecko will be spinning in his tracks.
So remember when you are carving and don't know what to carve, There may just be someone silently guiding your tool, creating his will on Your Log, working thru you for something he has not finished yet..there are some serious things happening here as BK, Gecko know, Flounder art knows And some of the New caarvers have a Light on, they got it..
the tradition that makes us do what we do the way we do it,for the people we do it for and not for the dollar.
Benzart

[ Edited by: tikifreak on 2004-01-27 07:17 ]

TikiMon is MIA.
Haven't seen a post from him since Dec. 2.

My guess is he's in jail.

Thats strange. How did this thread get to the top of the page yesterday?