Pīkari Mai!
Client
Kōpū O Te Rangi
Year
2024
Summary
A browser-based intervention that redirected global attention — replacing coronation coverage with Indigenous news, and reframing what is understood as “mainstream.”
I led the concept, cultural framing, and creative direction of Pīkari Mai — working in partnership with Colenso BBDO to develop and deliver the tool.
This included:
Defining the core intervention and user experience
Establishing the cultural and editorial framework
Guiding design, tone, and rollout
Ensuring the work remained precise, accessible, and grounded
I led the concept, cultural framing, and creative direction of Pīkari Mai — working in partnership with Colenso BBDO to develop and deliver the tool.
This included:
Defining the core intervention and user experience
Establishing the cultural and editorial framework
Guiding design, tone, and rollout
Ensuring the work remained precise, accessible, and grounded
The coronation of King Charles generated global media saturation — reinforcing a singular narrative of power, history, and legitimacy.
The question was simple:
what happens if that attention is redirected?
Rather than producing more content, the opportunity was to intervene directly in how information is encountered — shifting what people see, in real time.
Pīkari Mai was developed as a lightweight browser plug-in that replaced coronation-related news with Indigenous stories from around the world.
The system worked by:
Identifying coronation content across major news platforms
Replacing it with curated Indigenous journalism and storytelling
Maintaining the structure of the browsing experience so the shift felt immediate and seamless
The approach was deliberate:
No new platform
No disruption to user behaviour
No excess explanation
Just a precise redirection of attention.
Grounded in kaupapa that centres Indigenous sovereignty and contemporaneity, the work positions these stories not as alternative — but as central.
The coronation of King Charles generated global media saturation — reinforcing a singular narrative of power, history, and legitimacy.
The question was simple:
what happens if that attention is redirected?
Rather than producing more content, the opportunity was to intervene directly in how information is encountered — shifting what people see, in real time.
Pīkari Mai was developed as a lightweight browser plug-in that replaced coronation-related news with Indigenous stories from around the world.
The system worked by:
Identifying coronation content across major news platforms
Replacing it with curated Indigenous journalism and storytelling
Maintaining the structure of the browsing experience so the shift felt immediate and seamless
The approach was deliberate:
No new platform
No disruption to user behaviour
No excess explanation
Just a precise redirection of attention.
Grounded in kaupapa that centres Indigenous sovereignty and contemporaneity, the work positions these stories not as alternative — but as central.
Outcomes
Delivered a fully functioning browser tool within days
Reached audiences within their existing digital environments
Reframed a globally dominant media moment through a different lens
Demonstrated how small-scale interventions can shift perception at scale
The impact was not measured through volume alone, but through reorientation — changing what is seen, and what is considered important.
Cultural and Strategic Shift
Pīkari Mai challenges the idea that dominant narratives are fixed.
It shows that:
visibility is a matter of design, not inevitability
digital systems can be reworked to prioritise different worldviews
intervention can be subtle, immediate, and effective without scale or spectacle
It positions storytelling as something that can be redirected, not just created.
Pīkari Mai turns the act of browsing into a point of protest — where global attention is shifted, and other narratives are brought into view.
Outcomes
Delivered a fully functioning browser tool within days
Reached audiences within their existing digital environments
Reframed a globally dominant media moment through a different lens
Demonstrated how small-scale interventions can shift perception at scale
The impact was not measured through volume alone, but through reorientation — changing what is seen, and what is considered important.
Cultural and Strategic Shift
Pīkari Mai challenges the idea that dominant narratives are fixed.
It shows that:
visibility is a matter of design, not inevitability
digital systems can be reworked to prioritise different worldviews
intervention can be subtle, immediate, and effective without scale or spectacle
It positions storytelling as something that can be redirected, not just created.
Pīkari Mai turns the act of browsing into a point of protest — where global attention is shifted, and other narratives are brought into view.
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