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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last important works. Recognized for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing human struggles from peace activism to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, encouraging makers and thinkers to stand against the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain developed works to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “My advice was – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature hasn’t quite triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but Joelson believes its legacy can still be seen in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how artists approach the environmental impact of their methods. That’s why she is relaunching it to celebrate its decade milestone. Among the key participants taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. They have all created visual art, shared messages, and produced installations set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

When speaking to one participant, she is working outdoors in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about maths (spacing the planting intervals), science (exploring the genetic makeup), and geography (tracing the stories of how different apples came to the UK).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries background narratives. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see their names and the source. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will include attendees looking through an art institution on a journey to find the ice masses that have been lost in the past decade. All formations will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a reading will be conducted to remember that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, a creative will be presenting a public show about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a community dinner, made using sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, a participant is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists begin a project to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is hoping to fill a cultural venue in kids’ letters and drawings that document their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will inspire a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But let’s not make it about anxiety – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they get a future.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is aiming to tackle Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. This endeavor started after he faced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and document it – the project has since expanded to cover events experienced by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Apparently pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – 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 terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on the event day is to place blooms at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the itinerant journey about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “There’s been quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and