Sven Kirsten

By the early 1990s, Tiki bars were nearly extinct, and ceramic drinking vessels known as Tiki mugs were vanishing into thrift stores and swap meets. But in Venice Beach, California, a small group of collectors, artists, and enthusiasts saw something more. Art. Cabali and the Tiki Mug Obsession follows two intertwined stories. It traces the history of Tiki culture through its iconic collectible Tiki mugs, exploring how boutique publishing and a fledgling internet gave rise to a passionate, global community. Second, it tells the story of Fini, an obsessive Tiki mug collector, whose dedication inspired Cabali, a modernist speakeasy Tiki bar in Oro Valley, AZ.

Armchair traveling to the most exotic chapter of American pop culture! Come fly with us and relive the rise and fall of polynesian pop. Be there. See the places and the people. Hear the stories from eye witnesses and real tiki aficionados like Martin Denny, Leroy Schmaltz & Bob van Oosting, Eric Askew, the Bali Hai Boys, Sven Kirsten, Otto von Stroheim, Shag, Beachbum Berry and many more. The DVD OF TIKI, Vol. I “Paradise Lost” explores the origins of the myth of the Souths Seas paradise and follows a nation on their transition from the puritan 1950s to the sexual revolution of the 70s. The Sixties, the heyday of Tiki offered wild island lifestyle with exotic sounds and intoxicating concoctions without endangering the given moral and social rules at that time.