Valentin Smirnitsky: "Baku really impressed me"

Yesterday, an exhibition of People's Artist and chairman of the Artists Union of Azerbaijan, Farhad Khalilov, opened at the VDNKh. Theater and film actor, Honored Artist of the RSFSR and People's Artist of Russia Valentin Smirnitskiy spoke about the event in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

- Are you acquainted with Farhad Khalilov?

- Farhad Khalilov is my old friend. I always come to his exhibitions, because he embodies some kind of unifying principle of our generation. He is an amazing artist, many amazing things have been said about him today, and he deserves them all. He is a man who united our generation, and that is why he is amazing. I love him, and I'm always ready to meet him anywhere when he comes to Moscow. I wish him good health and happiness.

- What can you say about this exhibition?

- Of course, it was the right decision to choose this hall. The exhibition is impressive. It looks great in terms of his art, in terms of his view as an artist.

- Have you ever been in Baku?

- I was in Baku recently, in spring, but until this year I had not visited it for a long time. It really impressed me. I have a lot of friends and comrades there. But I have not visited it for a long time, so I was really shocked. I was amazed by how it looks now – after all, I remember it as a Soviet city.

- What did you remember the most?

- The famous Neftchilar Avenue, the center of Baku, a lot of things. I remember a lot of things about it, my friend lived there, many events of my life happened there. I visited Baku not just for business, I visited my friends, spent vacations there.