The Shining Girls charity art show, which opens tonight in Cape Town, is inspired by the book of the same title by best-selling author Lauren Beukes.
Featuring works by the likes of Roger Ballen, Zapiro, Wim Botha, Lorenzo Nassimbeni and Claudette Schreuders, the exhibition forms part of the Open Book Festival hosted by the Book Lounge and taking place in the city from 7 to 11 September 2013.
With The Shining Girls exhibition curator Jacki Lang encouraged the artists to draw their inspiration from the novel itself. As such, each artist was given a page physically taken from the book to use as the canvas for their work.
Beukes’s novel is about a time-travelling serial killer who is impossible to trace until one of his victims survive. The killer only hunts “shining girls”, young women with wonderful potential. The heroine, Kirby, eventually turns the hunt around and outwits the killer.
The works presented in The Shining Girls are inspired by the various themes in the book and eras through which the story travels. The many varied creative interpretations is what makes the exhibition so unqiue.
More than 50 South African artists, designers, illustrators, photographers and jewellery designers were approached to participate in this collaborative exhibition. All sale proceeds will go to Rape Crisis, an organisation that actively supports and empowers rape survivors.
The Shining Girls opens tonight, 6 September 2013, at the Cape Town School of Photography, and runs until 13 September 2013. All works on display will be for sale at R1 000 a piece. The team hope to raise a total of R50 000.
Lauren Beukes will be a speaker at Design Indaba Conference 2014.
