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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Recognized for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing global challenges from peace activism to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he declared, encouraging cultural workers to stand against the ongoing loss of living beings. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when creatives nationwide produced pieces to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, remembers his drive for action. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the project may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its legacy can still be seen in movements like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the eco-friendliness of their methods. For this purpose she is reviving it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Included in the key participants participating now are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. All participants have created visual art, shared messages, and produced installations set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

When speaking to the artist, she is working outdoors in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about mathematics (calculating the distances between trees), science (discussing the hereditary traits), and history (researching the journeys of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases red juice. They all have background narratives. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and landed on the physicist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see what they’re called and the source. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Throughout Britain

In London, a participant’s project on disappearance will involve participants searching Tate Modern on a journey to find the ice masses that have been lost in modern times. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using invisible ink. Each discovery, a chime will sound and a recitation will be conducted to honor that particular glacier.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be hosting a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a communal feast, cooked from sustainable ingredients. In another city, an artist is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists begin a project to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, Cornelia Parker will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is planning to fill an art space in children’s artwork that document their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will provoke a sense of responsibility from each person. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about positivity and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is aiming to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also staging a itinerant journey of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. The project commenced following he experienced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a particular day. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to plant pansies at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the incidents and his recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few since I last planted,” he says with regret.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and