The Fundació Privada Pere Closa, with the support of the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation – Delegació A Catalunya, has organised an award ceremony at the Poliorama Theatre in Barcelona to celebrate the efforts of the most deserving Rroma children for the 2023-2024 school year.

The Fundació Privada Pere Closa is a non-profit Rroma organization that works in different locations in Catalonia to promote the educational success of Rroma children and youth, as well as those who are not Rroma and are in a situation of social and educational vulnerability. The Fundació Privada Pere Closa, thanks to the support of the Nando and Elsa Peretti – Delegació a Catalunya, wanted to honor the efforts and dedication of children and young students through the Elsa Peretti-Pere Closa Study Awards, as part of the Project for the Educational Success of Rroma Boys, Girls and Youths in Catalonia and for the Dissemination of the Rroma People’s Culture. Through education, everyone can aspire to equal opportunities and these awards are intended to encourage younger generations to continue training and learning, with the aim of reducing the dropout rate and implementing strategies to combat school failure.

With the list of selected candidates finalized, the award ceremony took place on the 3rd of June 2024 at the Poliorama Theatre in Barcelona. Each student received their diploma along with a voucher endowed with €200 to invest in school supplies. The event was attended by Stefano Palumbo, Trustee of the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation, Mercedes Porras Soto, president of the Fundació Privada Pere Closa, Raquel Garcia I Sevilla, from the Education Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Manuela Fernández Ruiz, from the Office for Equality and Non-Discrimination of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Núria Serra I Busquets, from the Barcelona City Council, and Sandra Heredia Trucharte, from the Integral Plan of the Rroma People of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In his speech, Stefano Palumbo spoke of the deep respect and admiration that Elsa Peretti had for Rroma culture: “Elsa loved Gitanos. She saw them as free, creative and supportive, like her. She perceived them as the fruit of a time yet to come where creative education is a priority, where emotional intelligence governs relationships, where each person feels that they are part of a community, where the person is inserted into the environment”(Read the full speech). The first edition of the Elsa Peretti-Pere Closa Study Awards was a memorable and significant ceremony that highlighted the effort and dedication of young Rroma students in their education.

Two other events have been organized to celebrate the important commitment of the NaEPF to the dissemination of the Rroma people’s culture: Rromano Culture Conference at the European Museum of Modern Art (June 11th, 2024) and Rromano Theatre at the Margarida Xirgu Theatre, in Badalona (June 20th, 2024).