Pilarín Bayés

The charismatic Catalan cartoonist Pilarín Bayés (Vic, 1941) receives this year’s Animac Lifetime Award. The Festival recognises her work as an illustrator, which, for decades, has stimulated the imagination of creators and filled countless homes, schools and streets with colour and life. Her drawings, full of grace and irony, invite young and old to explore imaginary realms and discover a whole rich narrative in her portrayal of the world.

Pilarín stands out for her imagination in recreating classic tales and her inventiveness in new stories, as well as her ability to create immersive worlds where a great deal happens and everyone is very busy doing all kinds of things. The portrayal of iconic Catalan characters such as En Patufet and culturally very close places, such as cities, towns and buildings from all over Catalonia, makes her one of our most outstanding and appreciated creators.

Pilarín Bayés studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Barcelona, where she was discovered by the teacher Marta Mata, who introduced her to the professional world. Her work is extraordinary, with almost a thousand books, some translated into eight languages, and millions of drawings. In 1964 she published her first story for children, El meu pardal, released by La Galera, and began working for the magazine Cavall Fort. Since then she has illustrated hundreds of educational and narrative books, cartoons and posters. She has also had exhibitions of original works, and her cartoons have been used in all sorts of media and formats. In 2011 she created the animated series L’illa del far, a children’s version of Robinson Crusoe featuring Dana, a girl who lives in a robot-lighthouse on an island where she ended up after being shipwrecked. The animated series is a coproduction of Televisió de Catalunya and Editorial Claret and is screened during the Festival.

Pilarín has received many awards during her prolific career, including the Creu de Sant Jordi and the Premi Crítica Serra d’Or. Animac is honoured that she has accepted the award and will be present in Lleida on such a special occasion.