Tiki Caliente is an annual event in Palm Springs, California, that celebrates the spirit of island living. Featuring music, art and Polynesian-inspired food, the event is designed to stimulate and appeal to all five senses. Hundreds of people attend each year. They come for the live entertainment, creative cocktails and vendors, who sell everything from vintage aloha wear and jewelry to Tiki-inspired art. The event is also known for releasing an exclusive and highly sought-after annual Tiki mug, which it has done for over a decade.
The Eekum Bookum artist is John Mulder, also known as Mulder142. He is the head tiki mug maker at Eekum Bookum, a company specializing in handcrafted, high-fire stoneware tiki mugs. Mulder designs and sculpts each mug, and they are hand-painted, making each one unique. John Mulder's fascination with Polynesian art and culture began when he purchased his first tiki mug from a thrift store over 20 years ago. Eekum Bookum is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, where Mulder creates his mugs in his studio. Eekum Bookum is known for producing mugs for major tiki events like The Hukilau, Tiki Caliente, and Tiki Oasis, as well as for bars and its own line of mugs.
Doug Horne is an artist based in Arizona. He's been an artist his whole life, having started out doing commercial graphic art, then gravitating more and more toward Tiki. He also draws inspiration from Classic Universal Horror and B-Movie Monsters and mid century signage and architecture.
