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In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his final important works. Known for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to confronting global challenges from peace activism to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he declared, inviting cultural workers to resist the steady eradication of living beings. “Our responsibility is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “There was a strong 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 green light this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

After ten years, the project may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its influence can still be felt in initiatives like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their methods. That’s why she is restaging it to mark its 10-year anniversary. Included in the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have created visual art, shared messages, and produced installations set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

When speaking to one participant, she is working outdoors in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (spacing the planting intervals), genetics (exploring the genetic makeup), and history (tracing the backgrounds of how different apples arrived in Britain).

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’ scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice. Every one carries background narratives. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more thoughtfully connected of nature and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and the source. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

At the capital, one artist’s project on disappearance will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a journey to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in the past decade. Each glacier will be depicted on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. When located, a chime will sound and a recitation will be performed to commemorate that particular glacier.

Elsewhere, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a shared meal, cooked from organic, local produce. In another city, an artist is sharing her musical project, in which regional performers embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, another participant will be working with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to decorate a cultural venue in children’s artwork that express their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her call to action video. “What children have to offer to the world is something truly special and perhaps it can inspire a feeling of duty from us all. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves sketching winged creatures and then performing as birds – and for the event he is aiming to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also organizing a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the past twenty years. This endeavor began when he faced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a particular day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the flower not just for the direct association – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its name derives from 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 4 November is to place blooms at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the events and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and