Little Mermaid statue planned for Folkestone Triennial

All women in Folkestone were invited to model for the statue and six have been shortlisted

A life-size bronze statue of a Folkestone woman in the pose of Copenhagen's Little Mermaid will be created in the Kent town next year.

The work by Cornelia Parker is one of several commissions for the Folkestone Triennial 2011 next summer.

It will be the second time the festival has been held in the town. Shepway council said the first Triennial helped to put Folkestone on the map.

Nineteen artists have been commissioned for next year's event.

'Free spirit'

When Copenhagen's Little Mermaid was created in 1913, Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen's wife modelled for the statue, which celebrates the fictional heroine of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale.

Parker has said she will create a cast of a local resident.

She said: "I am not looking for a lookalike of the idealised Copenhagen Mermaid, but for a real person, a free spirit, so any size, shape or age [is] welcome."

One installation will see model ships suspended in St Mary and St Eanswythe’s church

All women in Folkestone were invited to model for the statue and six have been shortlisted, with the winner to be announced in November.

Shepway District Council leader, councillor Robert Bliss said: "We are looking forward to the second Triennial with great anticipation.

"It was hard to know what to expect before the first exhibition took place, but it had a marked effect on Folkestone and helped to put the town on the map."

Curator Andrea Schlieker said next year's theme, called A Million Miles From Home, would explore the town's geographic location as a gateway to and from Europe, and its isolation on the edge of Britain.

The artworks will look at migration, exile, colonialism and its aftermath, as well as place and language.

Eight works from the 2008 Triennial remain on display in the town.