‘Switching off the toff’ with indigenous news
Māori artist Hāmiora (Sam) Bailey has created a browser plug-in that can swap all the stories related to the UK royals and coronations with news about indigenous people. The helpful app Pīkari Mai blocks royal articles from the internet and replaces them with the latest Māori news sourced from a range of local media publishers. The emergence of the plug-in comes as a way to honor Kaituhi Māori (indigenous writers) by prioritizing news stories written by, for, and about indigenous people.
On Pīkari Mai’s website, the design team states that for indigenous people, the fanfare and coverage surrounding the royal coronation is more than just annoying. ‘So Tangata Whenua (People Of the Land) of Aotearoa (New Zealand) have created Pīkari Mai, a desktop-only plug-in that lets people switch off the toff, by replacing royal gossip with indigenous news from around the world. Pīkari Mai originated in Aotearoa, and is a gift from Tangata Whenua to Tangata Taketake (our indigenous cousins) across the globe,’ the design team adds.
The design team adds that Pīkari Mai is completely independent of any media organizations and that is not associated with or endorsed by any of the news sources and websites that it takes readers away from or to.
images courtesy of Pīkari Mai
Pīkari Mai swaps all royal and coronation reports
Switching off the toff to highlight the works of indigenous writers around the globe and spotlight the crucial news stories related to our indigenous people are at the vanguard of Pīkari Mai. ‘Here is the call to action: Cut out the headlines, (stop the squawking parrots). Pay attention, look, listen, and learn from indigenous reporters. It is for us as Māori people and our indigenous cousins across the globe,’ as written on Pīkari Mai’s website.
After installing it, Pīkari Mai automatically puts up a lengthy barrier across the coronation or royal article and flashes a news story written for, by, and about the indigenous people. Users can just click on the banner, and they are swiftly redirected to the news site. A growing family of Kaitiaki characters, a Māori term that entails a guardian, accompanies the plug-in as a homage to the indigenous people.
Hāmiora Bailey tells The Guardian that Māori authors only make up about 1.8 percent of reporters at news outlets, and putting forward their news stories and of Indigenous people enables a broader reach of readership. ‘I want to give my koroua, my grandparents or my elders, and Indigenous nationhood as big of a platform as the crown gets – and why not?,’ Bailey tells The Guardian. The Māori artist has worked with the ad agency Colenso BBDO to realize the browser plug-in, encouraging the viewers to ‘download the plug-in that unplugs the royals’.
Pīkari Mai swaps all royal reports with indigenous news written for, by, and about indigenous people
to test the plug-in, here’s a screenshot of the royal coverage section of The Guardian before downloading Pīkari Mai
after downloading and using the plug-in, this is the result of The Guardian’s news stories about the coronation
kaitiaki Logan created in honour of Te Fēti’i in Tahiti
kaitiaki Sonny designed by @sonyamilford in honour of her family in Samoa
kaitiaki designed in honour of @charlotteglennon and her whānau in Rarotonga
project info:
name: Pīkari Mai
creator: Hāmiora Bailey
collaboration: Colenso BBDO
matthew burgos | designboom
may 08, 2023
