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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last significant endeavors. Famed for creating art that erases itself, Metzger had dedicated his life to confronting human struggles from anti-nuclear advocacy to plant-based living. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on 4 November 2015,” he announced, urging makers and thinkers to stand against the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his last days, remembers his drive for action. “I sensed a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – let’s not mess around. No need to pause for financial support or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the initiative did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its impact can still be observed in initiatives like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their practices. This is the reason she is reviving it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Included in the key participants participating now are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has created visual art, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing one participant, she is out in a field in a rural area, cultivating apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and part learning experience. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), genetics (discussing the hereditary traits), and geography (tracing the stories of how different apples came to the UK).

Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that produces red juice

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. Each has background narratives. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the environment and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see their names and the source. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

At the capital, one artist’s project on disappearance will include attendees exploring an art institution on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in modern times. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the exhibition spaces using special pens. When located, a alert will occur and a recitation will be conducted to honor that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be putting on a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as organizing a shared meal, made using sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, a participant is broadcasting her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that capture their aspirations and concerns for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and it may inspire a sense of responsibility from each person. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to represent Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. This endeavor commenced following he faced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a particular day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since expanded to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly 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 etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the events and his personal experiences. “There’s been quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and