Genís Matabosch, circus historian, collector, president of the Circus Arts Foundation in Spain, and founder of the Golden Elephant Circus Festival in Girona, has been honored with the Gold Medal for Merit by Spain’s Ministry of Culture.

At the proposal of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Octavi Iceta i Llorens, Spain’s Council of Ministers has approved awarding 2021’s Gold Medals of Merit in Fine Arts to circus activist Genís Matabosch and 30 other artists and personalities. This award recognizes people and entities who have distinguished themselves in the field of artistic and cultural creation; in the notable service they’ve provided toward the promotion, development, or dissemination of art and culture; or in their efforts to conserve Spain’s artistic heritage. Next to Matabosch, names such as Javier Bardem, Icíar Bollain, Paloma San Basilio, Amaral, Ana Locking, Ian Gibson, and Jaume Plensa appear on the year’s list of 31 recipients.

As president of the Circus Arts Foundation, Genís Matabosch advocates for circus to be recognized in its own right as a two-sided cultural phenomenon. One side of it involves the production of grand, international spectacles: events such as the International Circus Elephant d’Or Festival, one of the 5 most important in the world; The Grand Christmas Circus of Girona, which ends its eighth edition this winter season; and Nights of Circus, which premiered last August in both Besalú and Roses. The other side of his work entails preserving circus heritage and history. The first-ever European doctorate in circus history (University of Barcelona, 2019), Matabosch possesses one of the world’s largest collections of circus costumes and artifacts. A selection of his latest acquisitions is on display in the halls of Circusland, the world’s only professional circus arts museum, which opened last year in Besalú’s International Palace of Circus Arts.

Acknowledging his victory, Matabosch stated that “it is an unexpected honor to join a list with so many famous names in circus history, from artists like Tonetti (Pallasso, 1994), Pinito del Oro (trapezist, 1998), and Miss Mara (trapezista, 2007) to businessmen like Arturo Castilla (1990) and Manuel Feijo (1999).”

Matabosch and the other distinguished awardees of 2021 will receive their Gold Medals at an in-person ceremony scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.

Read the original article in Spanish on the Ministry of Culture’s (Cultura y Deporte) website