Womad New Zealand is breathing new life into a festival favourite with the support of a new programme partner.
The festival announced today, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is a new programme partner and will be supporting Te Paepae in
conjunction with Tui Ora.
WOMAD NZ’s Iwi Liaison Manager Wharehoka Wano describes Te Paepae “as a place of welcome for artists and WOMAD patrons,
where they can meet locals and experience Māori culture and traditions.”
TAFT CEO Suzanne Porter said the festival was thrilled with the support of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, “celebrating the
indigenous culture of New Zealand is a priority for WOMAD. Te Paepae provides this opportunity for us to showcase
traditional, group orientated Māori activities, as well as enabling our audience to learn about our artist’s cultures
through intimate workshops.
The breadth and reach of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa with more 80 sites throughout NZ make them a great national partner for
our festival - WOMAD really is a festival for all of New Zealand.”
Event Director and NZ Programme Manager Emere Wano said “artists are often on the front lines of building cultural
bridges and raising awareness on a broad range of global issues. Te Paepae is a vehicle where Maori culture and
importantly the Taranaki Maori narrative is woven into the WOMAD experience. The synergies between Te Wānanga o
Aotearoa, Tui Ora, and WOMAD, will feature a number of hands-on activities, workshops with local and international
artists. These experiences are underpinned by our shared values of Aroha, Kotahitanga, and Manaakitanga.”
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Executive Director Marketing Hone Paul said WOMAD NZ has developed into both a credible and
successful event and was proud to become a new programme partner.
“WOMAD provides us with an opportunity to showcase Te Wānanga o Aotearoa to a new audience in a region where we have
several sites offering our unique brand of transformational education, says Hone Paul.
“Given the convergence of many cultures, we are keen to share our story and kaupapa at WOMAD NZ 2018.”
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa is New Zealand’s second-largest education provider. We’ve been educating and inspiring New
Zealanders of all ages and cultures for over 30 years. We deliver certificate to master’s degree programmes to 30,000
students each year, from more than 80 sites around the country as well as in students’ own homes. We have one of the
highest rates of student success amongst NZ tertiary providers, and 96% of our students recommend us as their preferred
place of learning. We educate and inspire using Māori values in a way that’s good for everyone.”