Tiki Pop

Summer goes hand in hand with daydreaming. The musée du quai Branly wisely surfs on this appetite with its exhibition on the Tiki Pop aesthetics, inspired by the culture of Oceania and Polynesia. The catalogue is richly illustrated and allows us to extend the visit, and measure to what point the myth of Hawai and the islands of the Pacific has filtered into a whole side of the visual and musical culture of the XXth century. Tiki Pop was first caused in part by the war and the stationing of US Marines in Guam and in the Solomon Islands; was then relayed by best-sellers such as Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener and by Hollywood productions. This cult was reincarnated in diners, bowling alleys, motels, gas stations and private villas. The fashion was largely ignored in France, but now it finally has its bible!
• Tiki Pop, by Sven A. Kirsten, Taschen, 2014, 384 p., €39.99