Tiki exhibit at San Francisco Airport
San Francisco International Airport is currently showing a truly fantastic exhibit about Polynesian Pop, titled “Reflections of Paradise: Tiki Culture on the Mainland”:
Several periods of Pacific Island influence on mainland American pop-culture are documented through record albums, sheet music, restaurant menus, bar decor, and of course, Tiki mugs. From the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco that introduced many visitors to Hawaiian music and art, to the regular revival of tropical-themed bars and restaurants, this exhibition charts the ebbs and flows of a cultural influence that continues to offer fantasy and escapism to mainlanders everywhere. The show focuses on the Bay Area with an emphasis on Northern California King of Tiki Trader Vic including over thirty artifacts from the Trader Vic’s Restaurant collection.
The display is full of some beautiful pieces and images, much of them very rare. It’s a good sized display and very striking, downright gorgeous. I wish that it was a travelling exhibit — it so effectively communicates why Polynesian Pop is such an interesting and rich area of American history. Even if you’ve seen the pieces in photographs before, there’s nothing like seeing them in person.
Tomorrow at noon, there will be a free tour of the exhibit followed by a Q & A session with the exhibit’s curator, Jeff Stevens, and Otto von Stroheim. The exhibit is located in the main lobby area of the International Terminal, and is well before the security checkpoint (i.e., easily accessible to the non-ticket-holding public). Short term parking is easy and not too terribly expensive. The exhibit runs through September 2006.
- Tiki Art exhibit Q&A at SFO Sat, Aug 5 FREE [Tiki Central]
- Sfo Airport Tiki exhibition [Tiki Central]
- Polynesian Pop Exhibit at San Francisco Int’l Airport [Humuhumu's Life in Photos]
August 5th, 2006 at 9:59 am
Whose collection did the large tikis come from?
August 5th, 2006 at 10:01 am
I believe most of them, if not all of them, came from the Trader Vic’s warehouse. I’m headed back right now for the tour, I’ll double-check when I’m there.
August 5th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Yep! All those big tikis came from the Trader Vic’s in Emeryville.
August 9th, 2006 at 6:34 am
Hello, I am the co-curator of the tiki exhibition. Thanks to everyone who made it out on Sat. I hope it wasn’t too dull. Public speeking has never been my favorite thing. I would be glad to answer any questions you guys might have about the exhibition.
Thanks, Jeff
September 5th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
[...] I don’t know how long the exhibit is running for, but if you’re in the San Francisco Airport and have some time to kill, go over to the international terminal and see if it’s still there. You don’t need to have boarding passes to see it; it’s in an unsecured section of the terminal. Here’s Humuhumu’s blog post and photos. Thanks to Humu for letting me use her photos. [...]
September 12th, 2006 at 9:48 pm
jeff, is this your exhibit? is this you? remember me?
September 18th, 2006 at 12:52 am
[...] I don’t know how long the exhibit is running for, but if you’re in the San Francisco Airport and have some time to kill, go over to the international terminal and see if it’s still there. You don’t need to have boarding passes to see it; it’s in an unsecured section of the terminal. Here’s Humuhumu’s blog post and photos. Thanks to Humu for letting me use her photos. [...]
November 6th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
[...] Now, as I said at the top of the story — too good to be true. But I think in this case that it could very well be true. For one, two of the tikis are the same design as the Trader Vic’s salt & pepper shakers, and have “TRADER VIC’S” carved in the back of them — which anyone can do, but the carving doesn’t look fresh. For another, the tikis look somewhat consistent with (though larger than) some tikis Trader Vic’s still has in their possession, as seen when they loaned them out for the San Francisco Airport tiki exhibit. [...]