NorthTec team attracts international attention

Media release:

NorthTec team at World Onggi Foundation workshop attracts national attention in South Korea

The NorthTec team of four students and tutor Richard Parker that is participating in the World Onggi Foundation International Students Workshop this week has attracted the attention of national media and high-level dignitaries.

The NorthTec team, who are all based at NorthTec’s Kerikeri campus, are the only English speaking team of five international teams that were invited to participate in the workshop and are working alongside five student teams from South Korea to create new works during the week-long workshop.

Mr Parker said that the team were filmed for an item which screened on the national television news in South Korea to an estimated audience of 40 million people.

He reports that team member and NorthTec student, Nada Woods, was also interviewed by another television channel with the Mayor of Ulsan City (population 3 million) then visiting the NorthTec stand and asking to be introduced to her.

Mr Parker said that the group are doing well at the event, despite some of the challenges involved.

“We are performing well at the Expo...Our team is a perfect combination and we've all got along so well. It has been very hard work in the 27-degree heat - especially when 70,000 people came through the gates.”

Onggi are traditional earthenware containers that were used to store pickles and other condiments in the gardens of Korean homes. Preserving the highly-regarded craft of Onggi-making is part of a cultural renaissance that receives strong support from the South Korean government and attracts a great deal of interest from the general public in South Korea.

The NorthTec group paid for their own airfares and spending money with accommodation, food and a stipend provided by the South Korean government.

The NorthTec team will leave South Korea later this week, arriving back in Auckland on Friday morning (subs 15 October).

NorthTec is the Tai Tokerau (Northland) region's largest provider of tertiary education, with campuses and learning centres in Whangarei, Kerikeri, Rāwene, Dargaville, Kaikohe and Kaitaia. NorthTec also has over 60 community-based delivery points from Coatesville in rural Rodney to Ngataki in the Far North.

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