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In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last significant endeavors. Famed for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to societal issues from peace activism to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he requested support for a global day of action to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, urging cultural workers to stand against the ongoing loss of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to make audiences aware of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his later life, recalls his drive for action. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its impact can still be observed in movements like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their practices. That’s why she is reviving it to celebrate its decade milestone. Part of the 18 lead artists involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. All participants have produced imagery, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (calculating the gaps in the orchard), genetics (discussing the genetic makeup), and geography (mapping the journeys of how distinct varieties were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice. Every one carries stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on the physicist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see the variety and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Across the Country

In London, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will involve participants exploring Tate Modern on a quest to find the ice masses that have been vanished in the past decade. Each glacier will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. When located, a chime will sound and a performance will be held to remember that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as holding a communal feast, prepared with regional food. In another city, an artist is streaming her musical project, in which regional performers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is hoping to decorate an art space in children’s artwork that express their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and perhaps it can provoke a feeling of duty from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also connects with children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is intending to tackle Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. The project commenced following he endured three incidents of discrimination on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the location of every incident and document it – the project has since grown to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

Harfleet chose the flower not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to sow flowers at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while conversing with those on the itinerant journey about the events and his personal experiences. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and