While the exhibition THE FIVE SPHRERS of MATY GRUNBERG attracts hundreds of visitors to The Bat Yam Museum, Maty G. and I took off to the city of Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia,  where Maty was born 80 years ago.  
OSTEN international art gallery awarded Maty G. with a lifetime achievement award, GRAND PRIX. In fact, the award was given to him in 2019, but due to the Corona pandemic, the ceremony was postponed and took place this year. The ceremony was held in CHIFTE HAMAM, an ancient and magnificent structure of an ancient Turkish hammam that was beautifully renovated. The president of Macedonia, Dr. Stevo Pendarovski, attended the ceremony. He was very interested in Maty's work and had a long conversation with him. Maty had already met President Pendarovski in the past and created a unique bronze chanukiah that  was sent to the president by Israeli Foreign Office.
The next day we were invited, along with other artists, to the President's House, where a warm welcome awaited us. Maty delivered moving words on behalf of the OSTEN gallery, on behalf of the artists, and on his own behalf. Maty G. was born on March 4th , 1943, a week before all the Jews of North Macedonia (then part of Yugoslavia) were rounded up and sent to the Treblinka death camp, from where no one returned. His survival, with his parents, is a miracle in itself. Receiving a lifetime achievement award in his hometown, and meeting the president of North Macedonia on the week of his Eightieth Birthday - are extraordinary events, and great excitement!
We are grateful for these blessings, and would love to share with you some of the excitement!