Video to play as Mermaid slips away

A video installation by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will replace Copenhagen's famed Little Mermaid statue when it goes on display at the World Expo in Shanghai next year.

The Danish Expo secretariat picked Ai's project over three other entries in a competition.

It will be set up in the Copenhagen harbour where the landmark statue has stood since 1913. Officials released few details about the video installation but said it "registers, documents and articulates the movements and changes that take place during the months when the mermaid is away".

The Little Mermaid statue will be the centre-piece of the Danish pavilion at the 2010 World Expo. Copenhagen's city council approved the temporary move, even though many Danes oppose it.

The Little Mermaid, inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, is one of Denmark's biggest tourist attractions. The 1.52m mermaid statue was created by Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen.