"This is a personal exhibition of a cat"

On September 20, in the Petersburg Gallery "Master", Swiss artist Heide Ardalan, the author of the well-known series of books about Kote Milton, will open a personal exhibition and hold master classes as part of the Boimfesta International Comics Festival. In addition, Petersburg will become the next place of adventures by the Cat Milton - Hade is preparing a new book about his adventures in the Hermitage, it will be released in Russian next year. On the eve of her arrival in Russia, Hyde told Olga Mamaeva about the new heroes of her books and why it is so important not to grow up for the writer.

- The scene of your new book about Milton is the Hermitage. Why?

- Because In the Hermitage, as you know, many cats live, and Milton should like it there. In addition, in Switzerland there is also a museum called the Hermitage, however, much less than yours. The time has come to explore the main Russian museum, especially since I had never been there before, but always represented it as something grandiose and full mysteries. I do not want to reveal all the secrets, but Milton is waiting for a lot of interesting things in the trip on the Hermitage: he will go down to the basement, get acquainted with local cats, will study all the treasures that are stored here, will surely become involved in some story and make fun of everyone. In a word, everything will do everything as always.

“He will also become the hero of your personal exhibition?”

- Yes, I brought to St. Petersburg a huge number of original drawings by Milton, which I made for my books. This is not my personal exhibition, but it.

- What did Milton's story begin?

-In the mid-90s, I found on the street an abandoned kitten. He was very tiny, no one needs and with sad eyes. And I must say, I always loved just such black and white cats. Fate seemed to deliberately sent him to me. I took him in my arms and said: "Friend, very soon you will become famous!" So it happened. In 1997, the first book about Milton's adventures was published. Since then, I began to invent different stories that my cat could get into or got into. At some point, they became so popular that I simply could not stop. Milton turned into a real superstar - I kept my word.

This is not my personal exhibition, but a cat.

- In addition, the cat, as I understand it, completely changed your fate. You were going to be a graphic designer, and became an illustrator.

- Yes, we can say that Milton changed my life. In any case, you talk with me not as a designer, but as an author of the adventures of one inquisitive cat. And even now, when he is no longer there, he is invisibly here. You see, we are returning to him all the time. And, of course, he continues to live in his stories.

- Which of them is the most expensive for you?

- I have two favorites. “The Past of Milton” (“Mais Ou Est Passé Milton”) - I love this book for its emphasized graphic design. Milton is depicted there in a completely different way than everyone used to see him. The second book is called “Milton: when I was small” (“Milton Quand J'étais Petit”) ; It is interesting in that I added additional colors, red and gray to the usual black and white image. In addition, I had fun to describe Milton's adventures when he was still a very small kitten.

- Why, it seems to you, books about Milton have gained such unprecedented popularity that your drawings were even posted in the museum next to the works of Van Gogh?

-Probably because I described not some character that arose in my head, but a real cat, whom I loved very much. I almost never had to invent. And children love when adults are honest with them.

Computers and iPhones destroyed children's imagination.

- Now, when the story of Milton’s adventures is almost completed, do you think about new characters?

- So far, I think little about who will become the hero of my next book, but I can definitely say that it will be an animal. It is possible that the penguin. Everything, I will no longer reveal any secrets.

- Last fall, you came to Moscow at the Non/Fiction Fair, where, in particular, the problems of modern literature and how to write for children and adolescents today were discussed. Who would you advise to learn?

- For example, Agatha Christie has. I read all her novels without exception. She, of course, is an absolutely universal author, capable of being equally interesting for both adolescents and adults. This is a rare quality for the writer. I don’t even remember who could be brought as a second example. And, of course, for me one of the best authors is Erzhe with his unforgettable Tintin's Adventures.

- Inventing stories for children is quite difficult. To cause confidence in them is even more difficult. You managed to solve what is the matter?

- I have no secrets, except that I myself am still a child in my soul and, possibly, I write first for him. I know exactly what stories would be interesting for me to read in childhood. Not finding them on the book shelf, I just decided that I would write them myself.

- And what stories did you lack in childhood?

-I do not think that something was not enough for me, my mother and grandmother read a lot of books to me. I had a rich, happy childhood. But, you see, there are no good books, so the need for them is as high as 30 and 50 years ago. Most of modern children have read almost nothing since they have computers, iPhones and other gadgets that destroyed their imagination. I would like to learn to fantasize and compose their own stories with the help of my books.

When children react to my animals, I connect to the source of uninterrupted nutrition.

- Distributing the walls in the Children's Hospital Lausanne, did you pursue the same goal?

- Partly yes. In fact, this is also important for me: when I see how children react to my animals, birds, flowers that arise right before their eyes, I seem to connect to the source of uninterrupted nutrition - this gives the strength to live and work. Everything turns out very naturally for me, I never make any blanks, each plot is a pure improvisation that is born depending on the mood and nature of children near me. My task is only to fix it.

- What book are you dreaming about now?

-I would very much like to make a series of illustrated stories about the consequences of an environmental disaster: the main characters are animals on the verge of extinction due to enormous environmental pollution. It could be a very instructive story, although sad. And I have long dreamed of making a book about vegetarian cuisine. By the way, it was not long to wait.