My concept (ihi) is pro flag change, looking at culture and the inequality within New Zealand and the representation or more so the lack of all cultures focusing specifically on Maori culture.
‘Not Ours’ plays on the idea of a mask, and how we hide Maori culture when it suits us and showcase the culture when it benefits our nation. I have used satire and subversion within my design to expose the issue of underrepresentation within culture. With the cut out of the text it reveals his face and eye looking through the mask creating a powerful statement of emotion within the viewer, enforcing the fact that the flag isn’t theirs and we only represent one side of New Zealand on our flag.
A few forms of rhetoric are used in 'Tahi, Rua, Toru'. Metonymy is expressed through the use of colour, I have kept to the colour palette of the New Zealand flag colours; red, white and blue. This informs the audience of my intention and by the use of the bold colours it stands out and is quite eye-catching. The use of subversion within my design creates a replica of the Union Jack within the Maori numbers, this also relates to the United Tribes flag. We should be united and all be represented on our nations flag. The juxtaposition of the maori language creating the Union Jack creates a stark contrast enforcing my idea of our miscommunication and representation within cultures. I wanted to play on nostalgia (wehi), and the importance of learning how to count in another language within kids, yet as they get older the importance fades and as shown on our flag the culture shows little importance when considering the nation as a whole.
