Coldplay Guitar Auction - Friday 10th October 2003, Hollywood comes to Dunedin

(Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand, 22 September 2003) Dunedin is set to welcome a slice of Hollywood tinsel town glamour to the city on October 10th 2003, by hosting a charity art auction with a big difference. The star attraction at the Coldplay Guitar Auction will be a guitar signed by Coldplay lead man Chris Martin, and US Oscar winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who visited the city in January 2003 for the filming of "Sylvia and Ted". The auction will also include artworks donated by 16 celebrated New Zealand artists and musicians, a further attraction will be a special performance by Auckland based singer/songwriter Mahinarangi Tocker, who will be playing the Coldplay guitar. Friday 10th October was chosen because it is World Mental Health Day, which, as Artsenta Director Robert West states: "gives us a wonderful opportunity to promote a positive image of mental health. It's going to be a night of pop stars, movie stars, and art stars."

Chris Martin gifted the guitar to the Creative Arts Trust - Artsenta, with the idea that the guitar be auctioned to raise funds to help run the service. Artsenta is a community based art workshop where people with a mental illness can go to make art and be creative using a wide variety of media. Martin specifically chose this charity because of its art focus, and the links between art and mental health which feature in the upcoming "Sylvia and Ted", a movie depicting the life of poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

The guitar is signed with the following inscription "thankyou for having us in Dunedin, love Chris Martin of Coldplay, January 2003; With lots of love from Gwyneth Paltrow". The 16 artists/musicians, who are mainly Otago based, have donated art works for auction include recent Wallace Art award winner Jeffrey Harris, and also Marilynn Webb, Donna Demente, Robert Scott (The Clean, The Bats), and Peter Cleverley. Janet deWagt, is even painting a guitar to auction on the night.

The Coldplay guitar auction will take place at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, on Friday 10th October 7pm onwards. Tickets for the auction cost $10, and can be purchased by contacting Artsenta at the numbers/address below. For the ticket price, the audience will be entertained by the music of Mahinarangi Tocker, nibble on finger food, and enjoy a glass of Montana wine. Host for the evening will be TV personality Dougal Stevenson, who will then hand over to Dunedin Auctioneer Trevor Plumbly.

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The Coldplay guitar will be on display at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery from Monday 6th October for potential buyers to see, but Artsenta Director Robert West says "With Gwyneth and Chris recently announcing their engagement - we expect there to be a lot of national and international interest in the guitar". Other artwork for auction can be viewed from Monday 6th October at Nevill Studio, 35 Crawford Street, Dunedin.

Prior/absentee bids can be made to Artsenta by tel/fax 03 477 9566, or by email artsenta@es.co.nz , up to 5pm Thursday 9th October, or interested parties can check out regular updates on the Artsenta website www.artsenta.cjb.net .

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