A new public art project, designed by California-born artist Doug Aitken, will be projected on the exterior walls of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City in winter 2007.

The installation will feature five films each around 15 to 20 minutes long and inspired by the densely-built environment of New York’s midtown which will integrate with the city’s architecture, while “enhancing and challenging viewers’ perceptions of public space”.

Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, said: “Our administration has always looked for bold initiatives in the winter months, when tourism is at its slowest, to attract visitors to our city.

“Doug Aitken’s project is certain to become the kind of exciting artistic event that will do just that and it is this kind of imaginative marketing that has helped bring our economy back.”

Cultural visitors to New York contributed US$13.3bn (£7.2bn, 10.6bn euro) to the city’s economy last year and the project is part of the strategy to help the Big Apple reach its goal of 50 million visitors a year by 2015.

The films will be shown daily from dusk until 10pm from 16 January to 12 February 2007. Details: www.moma.org