Their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark with the Lord Mayors of Sydney and Copenhagen launch an innovative arts project in Sydney featuring Danish and Australian artists with an interest in urban sustainability.

Curating Cities: Sydney – Copenhagen brings together five influential projects that evoke the urban environment as an ecology affected by human actions.

Produced by UNSW’s National Institute of Experimental Arts (NIEA at COFA) in association with the Danish Arts Agency, the exhibition opens this week and launched on Sunday 20 November.

At the event, Lord Mayors Clover Moore and Frank Jensen will ride energy-generating bikes and sample edible cocktails which promote biodiversity.

Among the artworks is a Danish installation that changes colour and sound in response to the fluctuating levels of carbon in the city. Atmosphere-the sound and sight of CO2 will be installed in the centre of Customs House above the model of the city. Sensors will be placed at three points in Sydney to monitor carbon emissions with real-time data being interpreted by the work.

Flooded McDonald’s, a stunning video installation by Danish artists Superflex, poetically evokes the impact of climate change on the kind of industries that have contributed to it. As an antidote to this apocalyptic vision, xClinic Farmacy by Australian artist Natalie Jeremijenko promises to turn any city dweller into an urban farmer (UFarmer). Jeremijenko offers a workshop at which participants may create their own Ag Bag, a take-home urban farm. She will also create edible cocktails, demonstrating how we can eat our way to a biodiverse city.

“Our research team is developing innovative curatorial projects to demonstrate the role that art and creative thinking can play in enhancing city space and promoting sustainable living,” says Professor Jill Bennett, the Director of NIEA. “The collaboration came about because Denmark is a leader in this field.”

High-profile speakers at the Curating Cities conference on Tuesday 22 November will include Danish architect and city planner Jan Gehl, the Lord Mayors of Sydney and Copenhagen and leading artists and thinkers from both nations.

What: Launch of Curating Cities: Sydney-Copenhagen

When: 1pm, Sunday, 20 November, 2011 (The exhibition runs from 17-27 November with select works remaining until 18 December)

Where: Ground Floor, Customs House, 31 Alfred Street, Circular Quay

The exhibition is curated by Jill Bennett, Margaret Farmer, Rachael Kiang and Felicity Fenner as part of the five-year Australian Research Council funded research project Curating Cities, a partnership between NIEA, City of Sydney, Object: Australian Centre for Design, Carbon Arts and the University of Cincinnati.