News
Josep Maria Joan i Rosa, director and founder of the Toy Museum, has died.
On July 4th, Josep Maria Joan i Rosa, director and founder of the Toy Museum of Catalonia-Figueres, died at the age of 84. Sad news for Catalan culture, as he is considered one of the great figures in the preservation and dissemination of Catalonia's recreational heritage.
Artist, collector and museologist, as well as a surveyor, he created the Museum with more than 25,000 toys in 1982. He was the founder and soul of a key museum facility, a benchmark in its field throughout the country.
"I had a lot of time left to dedicate myself to toys, and I dedicated myself to it," he explained about his hobby. That was the origin of his collection that gave rise to the Toy Museum that he created with the close collaboration of his wife, Pilar Casademont.
In 1971 he held an exhibition of his collection at the Palau Güell in Barcelona, which was very successful, with Joan Brossa writing a poem for the poster and Manuel Vázquez Montalbán dedicating an article to Triunfo praising the collection and the exhibition.
The Toy Museum has established itself as an international reference in the world of toys, with more than 4,000 pieces on display, some of them belonging to personalities such as Salvador Dalí and Joan Brossa. Today, the Museum receives a total of 70,000 visits per year and has an exhibition of approximately 8,000 pieces, in addition to some 17,000 pieces, which are in storage and are being renewed.
Regarding the issue of recognition, Josep Maria Joan i Rosa received the Cross of Saint George, the Silver Fig Leaf from Figueres City Council and the National Prize for Promoting Toy Creativity from the Ministry of Culture.
