Oodles of doodles

28 August 2014 - 02:09 By Poppy Louw
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A picture is worth a thousand words - and some doodles are worth thousands of rands.

Doodles, scribbles, graffiti, sketches, paintings and works by renowned cartoonists ND Mazin (Andy Mason) and Zapiro (Jonathan Shapiro), as well as work by other artists, celebrities and "ordinary people" will be on sale at the fourth Night of 1000 Drawings, at the Good Hope Centre, Cape Town, tonight.

Anyone can donate a drawing of anything on an A5 sheet of paper.

Since it was launched in Johannesburg in 2006, the 1000 Drawings project has spread across the world and has raised more than R700000 for charity.

It was inspired by a similar but commercial event in New York.

More than 8000 doodles were collected across South Africa , Spain, and the US for this year's project.

The Cape Town doodles exhibition is one of the city's World Design Capital projects for this year.

The concept has caught hold in cities around the world, including Berlin, Amsterdam, Dubai, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

"The concept of the project is very simple," said organiser Shani Judes, "but it can change lives.

"We hope to encourage everyone, young and old, individuals and companies across the country, to be a part of this exciting cause."

Each "one-of-a-kind" creation will be sold for R100 and live doodle battles will be held at the event.

Proceeds will go to the Thomas Wildschutt Primary School, in Retreat, Cape Town.

The money will be used by the school for painting work, buying computers and paying for transport. It will also contribute to the pay of social workers and psychologists, and finance school outings and the development of the creative arts at the school.

A R25000 donation by the project last year to Intuthuko, in Johannesburg, allowed 23 women working as embroiderers to set up a bridal shop.

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