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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last important works. Famed for creating art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to confronting human struggles from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I call upon you for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, inviting artists and creatives to oppose the continuing disappearance of species. “The mission is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. Let’s just do it.”

A Decade Later

After ten years, the project 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 campaigns like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their practices. This is the reason she is reviving it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Part of the featured creators involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. They have all produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

When speaking to one participant, she is working outdoors in the countryside, cultivating apple trees that will create a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about measurements (spacing the gaps in the orchard), science (studying the apple’s DNA), and geography (tracing the journeys of how different apples arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. Each has histories attached. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see what they’re called and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Throughout Britain

Within the city, one artist’s Book of Loss will involve participants searching a major gallery on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in recent years. Each glacier will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. When located, a bell will ring and a reading will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as organizing a community dinner, cooked from sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, an artist is broadcasting her environmental performance, in which community vocalists undertake a task to sing plants back to health in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is hoping to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in youth creations that express their hopes and fears for the future. “Kids’ art are powerful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and it may stimulate a feeling of duty from us all. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about worry – it should be about hope and making sure that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his Birds Can Fly involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to represent an iconic figure. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. The project commenced following he faced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a particular day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and document it – the project has since grown to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the flower not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from 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 intention on 4 November is to place blooms at fresh spots and also renew the tributes in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says with regret.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and