 A tiki mug from a tiki bar in California Image by Sam Howzit, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed CC BY 2.0 |
Thurston KnudsonTiki culture Tiki culture Pseudo-Polynesian decor and themes Tiki culture is an American-originated art, music, and entertainment movement inspired by Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian cultures, and by Oceanian art. Influential cultures to Tiki culture include Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, the Caribbean Islands, and Hawaii. The name comes from Tiki, the Māori name for the first human, often represented in the form of hei-tiki, a pendant and important taonga. The hei-tiki was often appropriated by Europeans as a commercialised good luck charm, hence the name of Tiki culture.[1] Despite the Pacific Islands spanning over 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) and including many different unrelated cultures, religions, and languages, Tiki aesthetic is considered by some to be amalgamated into one "fantasia of trans-Pacific… (Source: Wikipedia)
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