A while back, The Crafty Pint penned a piece for the Sunday Age about a new bar concept that would give people the chance to fund projects in the developing world by doing little more than having a drink. The Shebeen Bar – named after the ramshackle, illicit beer halls that sprung up in South Africa during apartheid – will stock drinks from countries such as Vietnam and South Africa. And each time you buy one the profit goes to a project in that country.
While it’s got little to do with Australian craft beer, it’s a bloody good idea, a great cause and allows you to help the little guys, in a similar way that choosing a microbrewed beer over something from the big boys does (OK, tenuous link to Aussie craft beer over). Since that article ran, the fundraising operation has been in overdrive as Shebeen’s founders look to raise enough capital to get it built and opened, “it” being a sweet CBD bar in Melbourne designed by some of the best in the business.
Their latest fundraising initiative is “Pin Up Your Doodle” for which they’re inviting people to create any form of artwork – or doodle – with the best-looking ones going on display in Melbourne.
“How does that make them any money?” you ask. Well, then they’ll auction them off. And, having got a few famous folks to contribute doodles of their own, including Aussie artists Amber Wallis, Jake Walker, and Vexta, they’re confident the dollars will come rolling in. There will also be a pop-up Shebeen Bar at the exhibition selling exotic beers and wines from the developing world.
Shebeen founder Simon Griffiths says: “We’ve already got submissions from a bunch of incredible artists, and are throwing our net wider to capture celebrities from a range of disciplines, as well as the general public. All money raised (through doodle and bar sales) will be donated to the Shebeen Social Investment Fund, which is aiming to raise $250,000 by the end of November. A significant amount of The Fund has already been raised through private donations.”
To take part, you can send your doodle to Pin Up Your Doodle, c/o Utopian Slumps, 1/33 Guildford Lane, Melbourne, Australia, 3000. Or place it in one of the drop boxes in Melbourne and Sydney. Locations include:
Melbourne
Blindside
Craft Victoria
Footscray Community Arts Centre, Footscray
Lamington Drive, Fitzroy
Incu – Flinders Lane
Right Angle Studio, Curtin House
St Heliers Store and Gallery @ Abbotsford Convent
Utopian Slumps, Guilford Lane
Sydney
Art Almanac Office, Glebe
Via Alley, Surry Hills
The Commons, Darlinghurst
Deadline is next Friday (November 12) with the Pop-up Bar and PUYD Exhibition taking place from November 19 to 21, midday to 1am, in the basement of Donkey Wheel House, 673 Bourke Street, Melbourne. The auction is at The Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA) from 6pm to 8pm on November 24.
For the latest, check pinupyourdoodle.com.
