Joan-Pere Viladecans, Jordi Cuixart and Agustí Villaronga, Creus de Sant Jordi 2023

The Executive Council has approved the names of the twenty people and ten entities that this year will receive the Creu de Sant Jordi, one of the highest awards given by the Generalitat de Catalunya. "All of them are recognized for providing or having provided outstanding services to Catalonia in the defense of its identity or in the civic and cultural sphere", stressed the Government's spokeswoman, Patrícia Plaja, during the weekly press conference. Aside from gender parity, the selection of awardees "also reflects the diversity of fields in which the people and entities distinguished with the Crosses work, as well as the territorial representation" said Plaja, who also informed that the award ceremony will take place at the beginning of July.

One of this year's crosses will be awarded posthumously to the filmmaker Agustí Villaronga Riutort, for his prolific career of almost fifty years during which he directed twenty films. In the field of cinema and theater, the actress Julieta Serrano Moreno is also distinguished, who began her career in the 50s and is still active.

In the world of music, the merit and talent of the singer-songwriter Jaume Sisa Mestre, one of the most outstanding members of the Catalan rock movement, and the music of Carme Valls Farrà, creator of the Shalom Choir of Lleida and promoter of the International Festival, are recognized. Let's play Lleida". In the field of fine arts, the Alcoy painter and sculptor Antoni Miró Bravo, the Catalan painter Joan-Pere Viladecans, the lawyer, writer and patron Antoni Gelonch Viladegut and the ceramist Josefina Vilajosana Carné will receive the award.

It also recognizes the work done as an entrepreneur and social activist by Jordi Cuixart i Navarro, Maria "Vicki" Bernadet Rius, a prominent figure in the fight against sexual abuse of minors, Custòdia Moreno Rivera, nurse, activist and neighborhood leader and Bombo N'Dir, social integrator, mediator and Community Health agent. The work of Ignasi Garcia Clavel, president of the Parochial Schools Foundation, president of the board of trustees of Sant Felip Neri and member of the House of Mercy in Barcelona, is also recognized for his social commitment.

The list of personalities is completed by the writer and librarian Maria Zoraida Burgos Matheu, the academic and researcher Dolors Bramon Planas, the psychiatrist Edelmira Domènech Llaberia, the ex-combatant of the Civil War Miquel Morera Darbra, the sportsman Francesc Buscató Durlan, the shipwright and stirrer Joana Costa Benaiges and archaeologist Xavier Nieto Prieto.

The Government has also agreed to award the Sant Jordi Cross of the Generalitat de Catalunya, in the form of a plaque, to the Sonar Festival, the Girona group Sopa de Cabra, the Tot Raval Foundation, the Vozes private foundation, the Federation of Agrarian Cooperatives of Catalonia (FCAC), the Casino del Center de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the Progrés Palamós Choir, L'Estaquirot Teatre, the recreational and educational Casino of Amposta and the Raiers Coll de Nargó.

Cross of Sant Jordi of the Generalitat de Catalunya 2023:

Vicki Bernadet and Rivers . Social activist: For his great fight against sexual abuse of minors. A survivor of child abuse, she founded the FADA association in 1997, which became the Vicki Bernadet Foundation in 2006, in order to help victims like her. Previously she had also been linked to several projects with groups at risk of social exclusion, among which her role as president of the Catalan Antidrug Coordinating Committee stands out. She was a pioneer in highlighting this great social cycle and in undertaking great work, from the associative world, to bring abuses to light and help prevent them. His project seeks to provide help to surviving victims so that they can feel accompanied and listened to, and to prevent them from suffering social rejection, misunderstanding and loneliness.

Dolors Bramon Planas . Academic and researcher: For her research and dissemination in various areas of the political and social history of our country. As a PhD in Philosophy and Letters, Semitic Philology section, and in Medieval History from the University of Barcelona and professor at this university and at the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences in Barcelona, she has researched religious minorities in the Catalan-Aragonese Crown, and about the Andalusian past in today's Catalan lands, through the translation and interpretation of the Arab chronicles that refer to it. In the history of science, he has worked on the world of Arab geography. In language, he has studied Arabicisms in Hispanic languages and more especially in the Catalan language and onomastics. On Islam, he has dealt with its theology, history and society, especially the status of Muslim women.

Maria Zoraida Burgos Matheu . Writer and librarian: For her remarkable literary work, being one of the most important writers of the Tortosa post-war generation. He is an outstanding voice of children's and youth poetry and prose from the Terres de l'Ebre. His poetic work rooted in the earth, intimate, with his own voice and great lyrical power, is located at its beginnings within the social poetry of the fight against the dictatorship, but evolves over time to question and reflect on some of the great themes that make us human such as the passage of time, beauty, love or death. During her professional life, she has combined writing with her job as a librarian in Amposta, Ulldecona and the Popular Library of Tortosa.

Francesc Buscató and Durlan . Basketball player and coach and physical education teacher: For his outstanding sporting career in the world of basketball. He is considered one of the best bases in Europe of his generation. He was a player for UDR Pineda, FC Barcelona, with whom he won the League and the Cup, CB Aismalibar de Montcada and Joventut de Badalona, where he won the League and the Cup again. He played in the Olympic Games in Rome, Mexico City and Munich and won the silver medal in the 1973 European Men's Basketball Championship, as well as being selected on several occasions as a player of the European basketball team. In 1969 he was awarded the UNESCO Fair Play prize. Once retired, he was part of the coaching staff of FC Barcelona, Joventut de Badalona and CB Hospitalet. He has been the Catalan basketball coach for more than three decades. In addition, he was a professor of Physical Education at the INEFC for 32 years.

Joana Costa Benaiges . Shipwright and mender: To be an exceptional exponent of seafaring life in the Serrallo port of Tarragona. As a shipwright and mender, and custodian of a centuries-old tradition linked to the world of fishing that has also lived in the family sphere, as a great-granddaughter, granddaughter, daughter, wife and mother of fishermen. From generation to generation, the art of mending is one of the oldest, feminine, and often invisible, and constitutes one of the best examples of our maritime heritage.

Jordi Cuixart and Navarro . Businessman and activist: For his work in the fields of social activism and the defense of Catalan culture, as well as civil rights and democracy. Between December 2015 and February 2022, he was president of Òmnium Cultural and became a key figure in favor of the right to peacefully and freely express political ideas within the framework of the defense of Catalonia's right to self-determination. He is director of the company Aranow Packaging Machinery and was also patron of the FemCat Private Entrepreneurs Foundation, which works for the economic and social development of Catalonia.

Edelmira Domènech and Llaberia . Doctor and psychologist: For her important work in the field of psychiatry, where her role as a pioneer of child psychiatry in our country stands out. Thanks to his work, he has contributed to putting the spotlight on a problem that previously went almost unnoticed in the world of medicine. He has a significant track record linked to the knowledge and treatment of child and adolescent psychopathology, both in the healthcare and academic fields, where he has published numerous articles in some of the most prestigious journals and directed 36 theses. In addition, she is an emeritus professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Full Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Catalonia.

Ignasi Garcia and Carnation . Philologist and educator: For his great conviction in building, from listening and dialogue, a more empathetic and tolerant society. As Director General of Prisons he fought to promote a prison model with reintegration as the main point of reference, and also to improve the conditions of prisoners. He later promoted the creation of the first Department of Religious Affairs in the Generalitat de Catalunya, in which the promotion of interreligious dialogue played a very prominent role, which was achieved thanks to the friendship and mutual knowledge of the main voices and currents of the country He has also been closely linked to the School of Sant Felip Neri, where students are educated with a critical spirit and love for the country. Currently, it continues to collaborate, altruistically, in the construction of a more inclusive and committed society.

Antoni Gelonch Viladegut . Lawyer and writer: For his significant efforts in favor of the conservation and dissemination of art. Cultural patron and honorary member of the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi, he has built with work and love the Gelonch Viladegut Collection, a private collection of prints and art books with high quality pieces and significance, considered one of the most important in Europe. His desire to share what beauty means to him with the city of his birth led him to facilitate that the entirety of his collection is today deposited in the Museu de Lleida, so that the public can to enjoy.

Antoni Miró Painter and sculptor: For his committed and innovative artistic career. His work, located within social realism, but also linked to other styles experienced throughout the different stages of his career, such as expressionism, neofigurativism or pop art, rejects all kinds of oppression and cries out for human freedom and solidarity. It is a painting of awareness, which takes care of both the message and the form through the aesthetic language. Committed artist, founder of the Alcoiart Group and the Denunzia Group in Brescia, he has experienced the plastic language and the social function of art and has actively participated in the promotion and promotion of culture.

Custody Moreno Rivero . Neighborhood activist and nurse: For her outstanding work in the world of associationism and neighborhood activism, where she has fought for many decades, together with her neighbors, in order to improve living conditions and rights of the people of the Carmel neighborhood of the city of Barcelona. Her great capacity for effort and her indefatigable belief in a better world have led her to always be active in her personal life, but above all to collectively promote important social and political changes through citizen initiative.

Miquel Morera and Darbra . Survivor of the Lleva del Biberó: For his important role in preserving the democratic memory of this country. Ex-combatant of the Spanish Civil War, he volunteered at the age of 16 in the Macià-Companys Column, on the Aragon front. At the end of the war he was interrogated and tortured in the Model prison in Barcelona, before being transferred to the Horta and Reus concentration camps. He is one of the last survivors of the Macià-Companys Column and his testimony is fundamental in being able to give voice to the many victims of the Spanish Civil War who were silenced during the following decades. A first-hand source to remember the horror of one of the darkest events in contemporary history and war in general.

Bumbo Ndir . Social integrator: For her important social action in favor of women, and especially migrant women. She is a historical militant in our country in the fight for equal rights, anti-racism and decolonial feminism. From her own experience and expertise, as a social integrator, intercultural mediator and community health agent, she has always mobilized in favor of human rights and effective equal rights, and has been a visible face of various associations such as the Coordinator of Senegalese Associations of Catalonia, the Sub-Saharan Immigrant Women's Association or the Migration, Gender and Development Network.

Xavier Nieto Prieto . Archaeologist: For his fundamental work in the preservation of the underwater archaeological heritage of Catalonia. He is one of the most important figures in this field, thanks to his prominent role in the introduction of the scientific study of this subject in Catalonia. In 1981, he held the first post of underwater archaeologist in the entire State, and subsequently led the excavation of the derelict Culip IV, the first underwater site excavated entirely using scientific methodology with a team of archaeologists in the peninsula. In addition, he has also directed the Underwater Archeology Center of Catalonia and the Museo Nacional de Arqueología Subacuática, and has been vice-president of the scientific and technical commission for the protection of UNESCO's underwater cultural heritage.

Julieta Serrano Romero . Actress: For a life dedicated to the world of acting, with a career spanning more than six decades, during which she has worked with some of the most relevant figures in contemporary Catalan and Spanish cinema, until becoming, herself, a of them During his prolific career, great interpretations stand out both on the stage of the theatre, as well as on television and in the world of the seventh art. Thanks to them, she has achieved great respect and esteem from the public, and several awards in recognition from the guild, such as the Goya Award for the best supporting actress for the film Dolor y gloria, the Margarida Memorial Theater Award Xirgu for his role in La casa de Bernarda Alba, the Gaudí Award of Honor - Miquel Porter for his career or the National Theater Award awarded by the Ministry of Culture.

James Sisa Musician: For his major contribution to Catalan musical culture, as one of the most prominent contemporary Catalan singer-songwriters. He began his journey as a singer in the sixties and seventies linked to the experimental and mystical counterculture, within a style of his own that he has described as "galactic". Original and provocative, he has constantly reinvented himself, even through the multiple personalities he has acquired throughout his musical career under the pseudonyms of Ricardo Solfa or El Viajante. Within this musical and cultural heterogeneity, one of his most popular creations stands out, Any night the sun can rise, a great intergenerational reference in the repertoire of current Catalan popular music.

Maria del Carme Valls and Farrà . Singer, choir director and music teacher: For her remarkable contribution to the promotion of music and choral singing. He has dedicated his life to the teaching of choral singing, and has trained, thanks to his knowledge in musical pedagogy, children and adults in the art of music. He has contributed significantly to spreading the country's music and composers, especially in the lands of Ponent. She is one of the creators of the Coral Shalom de Lleida, a cultural entity that seeks to raise awareness and musically enrich society by organizing concerts and cultural events, among which the Musiquem Lleida International Festival stands out.

Joan-Pere Viladecans . Painter: For his stimulating artistic work, which reflects critically on fundamental aspects of our humanity, and its conditions and contexts. A self-taught painter, his work is characterized by a constant dialogue between figuration and abstraction, where he seeks to investigate new forms of painting through unorthodox materials. His sensibility and skill for artistic creation also stands out within the world of posters. His important collaboration with the literary world has led him to illustrate several outstanding works of Catalan and universal literature, such as the texts of Salvador Espriu and Miquel Martí i Pol, the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or the essay by Jaume Sobrequés Catalunya. History of a nation.

Josefina Vilajosana Carné . Potter: For his artistic and social work in favor of the rural environment and its people. Artisan of earth and mushrooms, she dedicates herself to reproducing them, through her self-taught work, realistically. His work has been exhibited at the Bolet Museum in Montmajor, the Rural Life Museum in l'Espluga de Francolí and the Museum of Natural Sciences in Barcelona. His work is of great importance in the dissemination of mycology. In 2015, she was granted the title of Master Ceramic Craftsman by the Generalitat de Catalunya in recognition of her career and artistic value.

Agustí Villaronga Riutort . Film director: For his excellent cinematographic ability, which led him to direct some of the most outstanding films of Catalan cinema in recent decades. Mallorcan filmmaker, developed most of his career in the field of Catalan cinema. He had a prolific career of almost fifty years, during which he directed twenty films with a great sensitivity for telling stories. Among his works, some adaptations of classics of contemporary Catalan literature stand out, such as Incerta glòria, by Joan Sales, and especially Pa negre, by Emili Teixidor, a great success with the public and critics, and the first film of the State in a non-Spanish language to qualify for an Oscar for the best non-English language film.

The Government has also agreed to award the Sant Jordi Cross of the Generalitat de Catalunya, in the form of a plaque, to the following entities:

Asociació Cultural dels Raiers de la Ribera del Segre : For its notable role in the conservation of the intangible Catalan heritage, through the memory and manifestation of the trade of raier. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Coll de Nargó was one of the most important centers for the river transport of wood in Catalonia. Towards the eighties, several decades after its disappearance, this activity was recovered by the residents of the town and they turned it into a party. Every year the rais of Nargó return down the Segre to reclaim their past strongly linked to the craft. In 2022, the Rayers were declared, by means of an international joint proposal, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Casino del Center de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat : For its remarkable cultural and social action, being a living and rooted entity in l'Hospitalet that has become a central facility for the city. In 2023 they celebrate their 150th anniversary, and throughout these more than one hundred years of history the entity has hosted various activities and institutions of an associative nature, which have turned it into an outstanding dynamizer within the social fabric of the neighborhood of L'Hospitalet Centre. Its wide range of cultural and popular groups and activities, which has always remained active throughout its history, have confirmed it as a great spreader of Catalan tradition, culture and language.

Recreational and educational casino of Amposta : For its important work as an engine of local dynamism, being one of the first entities and athenes of the Terres de l'Ebre. It was founded in 1871 under the name of Casino Ampostino, and from its foundation to the present day it has been home to a multitude of cultural, sporting, economic and administrative institutions in the city and the Montsià region. It has experienced two golden moments: from its beginnings to the Civil War, and then with its return in the 1940s to the 1970s. Today it continues to be an important cultural and social attraction for the territory, constantly reinventing itself to approach new audiences and activities.

Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Catalonia (FCAC): For its distinguished work for the benefit of farming and the rural world. They are a non-profit organization that aims to represent, promote and support the agri-food cooperative world of Catalonia. Agricultural cooperatives are one of the main economic drivers in rural areas of the country, where they represent a democratic, autonomous and social option for labor and economic development. In 2023, FCAC will celebrate its fortieth anniversary. During all these years, its principles and values distinguish and enrich a sector that, from the social economy, contributes to responsible, sustainable and socially and territorially inclusive economic growth.

Sónar Festival : For its determined commitment to the electronic music scene and contemporary multimedia art in the city of Barcelona. Sónar is one of the main festivals of music, art and digital culture in the Catalan scene, with great international prestige, which celebrates its thirtieth edition in 2023. During the three days of the month of June that last its main activity, this festival combines the playful with the artistic, the avant-garde and experimentation with the new musical currents of electronica, through a very heterogeneous offer that it includes, among others, live music concerts, multidisciplinary performances, conferences or exhibitions.

Fundació Privada Vozes : For its determined will to overcome socio-economic barriers and bring music closer to all people. It is a social music project in which more than 700 children and teenagers from the districts of Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and Sant Martí in the city of Barcelona participate. Since 2004, they have been offered free access to high-quality music studies, through which they seek to promote integration and cohesion in disadvantaged contexts and environments at risk of social exclusion. A musical formative action that, in addition, leads boys, girls and teenagers to form multidisciplinary and highly motivated groups that participate in large choirs, symphony orchestras or various musical formations.

Fundació Tot Raval : For its prominent role in generating links between people and organizations in the Raval neighborhood to achieve the goal of creating a better neighborhood for all residents. It is a community foundation created in 2002, which includes more than 50 associations, institutions, people and companies linked to the Raval neighborhood. Within this foundation, they all work in a network to improve social cohesion, coexistence and quality of life in the neighborhood. They develop community work in order to deal with the multiple challenges shared in one of the most densely populated and diverse neighborhoods in Europe, always with a great common goal: to improve the quality of life of the Raval neighborhood in Barcelona.

L'Estaquirot Teatre : For its innovative and distinguished career in the world of puppet theater. It is a theater company that is primarily dedicated to shows aimed at family audiences, in which the language of actors and the language of puppets are mixed in an innovative way. They have been constantly researching puppet techniques, both plastic and expressive. All this results in more than 10,000 performances carried out in around forty productions, ranging from street shows and acrobats, passing through the glove puppet, until consolidating with the shows of actors, puppets and manipulated objects . Currently, his workshop in Vilanova i la Geltrú has a small room where sessions are offered to the school public.

"El Progrés" Choral Society : Due to its significant role in the world of choral singing, it is one of the dean's cultural institutions in the municipality of Palamós. In 2022 they celebrated 125 years since their creation linked to the Catalan choral movement of the Clavé choirs, which during the 19th century had the purpose of enriching the cultural life of workers. It has always been directed by different musicians linked to the history of Palamós. They have a very varied repertoire that includes popular songs from Catalonia and other countries to more current songs. Throughout its long history, the choir has been a space for socialization and the creation of intergenerational networks, being one of the main actors in revitalizing the municipality's cultural activity through music.

Sopa de Cabra : For his notable contribution to Catalan musical culture, as one of the main members of the Catalan rock movement. It is a Girona music group active between 1986 and 2001 and from 2015 to the present. The founding members of the group were Gerard Quintana, Josep Maria Thió, Joan Cardona, Francesc Lisicic and Josep Bosch, but Julio Lobos, Jaume Soler, Eduard Font, Xarim Aresté, Valen Nieto and Ricard Sohn have also been part of the group. His vast and popular musical body of work has enjoyed great success, spanning more than three decades, with people of various generations. His album Ben endins tops the lists of the best-selling albums in the history of rock music in Catalan.