The exhibition shows how an Oceanic divinity – largely reinvented for the occasion – became the symbol of this culture in the 1960s. An accumulation of incredible modern idols, unique pop accessories and elements of interior design will be presented alongside some of their "authentic insular counterparts". The America of the 1950s was the face of ultimate success – the success of World War II heroes and of the leaders of the post war industry whose products were exported on a massive scale across the whole world, ensuring material wealth.

In all respects, the middle class American lacked nothing. Food, home, family, money: they had everything. And they were stressed. A strict work ethic which enabled them to "live well" also led to the need to unwind, to abandon their responsibilities and the expectations of society, if only for one evening. In quest of an outlet, the Americans took refuge in the antithesis of the modern world: the fantasy of a carefree life in the islands of the South Seas. The fantasy of a return to paradise in which the Tiki incarnated the secret desires of mankind, a return to primitive life where everything was simple and love was free of all constraint.

Beginning with the origins of the style, the exhibition retraces the development of this dream: the discovery of the Pacific islands by explorers, the expansion of the dream by writers and artists, the development of the culture of entertainment and escapism of the 20th century. By assembling a profusion of popular culture objects collected by "urban archaeologists" over the last 20 years, the exhibition aims to show the diversity and inventiveness of the phenomenon, and to explain by what paths and detours the ancestral and mythical god Tiki became the American divinity of leisure.