On the 15th December 2021, we invited 13 guests from Seogwipo, South Korea to Bradford. This was an excellent opportunity to strengthen ties with another UNESCO City. Seogwipo is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its rocky coastline and archeological artifacts. It is the second-largest city in Jeju Island and welcomes tourists from all over the world.
Our guests were from a variety of backgrounds, some including Seogwipo City of Culture, Seogwipo City Council and local educational institutions.
The day kicked off in the the Bradford UNESCO City of Film Office, based on the University of Bradford Campus. David ran through the schedule for the day and introduced our guests to the team.
We then moved to the Richmond Building, where Professor Chris Gaffney, Dr Mark Goodall and Dr Karen Thornton were introduced to our guests. Some of them gave a presentation. This was a great opportunity for our visitors to ask questions and learn more about Bradford as a city. It also gave us the opportunity afterwards to socialise with the guests and learn more about Seogwipo City.
One of our 13 guests was the Mayor of Seogwipo, Jong-woo Lee. It was a pleasure to have him along and got him some Bradford memorabilia to take home – a photography book of Bradford and a branded UNESCO City of Film hat.
We then took a leisurely stroll to Centenary Square, where we played a video of Seogwipo on the Big Screen. We showed them around Bradford City Hall, a Grade-I listed building in the heart of the City Centre. There was a small exhibition for Korean British Veterans in West Yorkshire, which our guests took particular interest in.
We then went to the Bradford 2025 offices, where we met up with Shanaz Gulzar and Nicola Greenan. They talked to our guests about Bradford’s recent win to become City of Culture in 2025 and what they were doing in the run up to 2025.
It was a pleasure showing our Guests from Seogwipo, South Korea around Bradford and showing them what we do as a UNESCO film city.
