Tiki Tales: Exploring Polynesian Culture and Tropical Charms

Exploring the Art's Timeless Allure and Cultural Legacy

Tiki Collage Art by Matthew Bamberg. Sponsored link by artist.

For as this appalling ocean surrounds the most verdant land, so in the soul of man, there lies one insular Tahiti, full of peace and joy

Herman Melville, “Moby Dick”

Tiki conjures up fantasies of rum bamboozles, lines of torches flickering in the night breeze, and the swiveling hips of exotic dancers, daring, sleek, and alluring, like the hands of the dancer herself.

All parts of the locales in the South Pacific, from Hawaii to Polynesia, are revered locations with a sense of tropical style.

This 1960s hand-made Tiki is made of a palm tree trunk, the preferred material for these Gods. Photo by Matthew Bamberg

And modern. A contrasting image that carefully balances the clean lines and curves of modernist architecture. More than all this, Tiki has been recreated to enhance, explore, and embellish our innate primitivism, our best chance to develop our playful spirit…our sense of FUN.

A-frame tail fins on a Cadillac. Photo by Matthew Bamberg

The juxtaposition of a 1950s Cadillac against a Polynesian A framed building (the term used for buildings with steep sloped roofs that form the letter A) illustrates how the modernists adapted primitive design. The Cadillac’s tail fin brake lights also form the letter A — sleek, space-age, and fun.