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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate important works. Recognized for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing global challenges from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, urging makers and thinkers to resist the ongoing loss of species. “The mission is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

And so Remember Nature was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, recalls his sense of urgency. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. No need to pause for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, Remember Nature hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its legacy can still be seen in initiatives like Culture Declares and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their work. For this purpose she is reviving it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Among the key participants taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and Anya Gallaccio. Each has produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (calculating the distances between trees), science (discussing the hereditary traits), and origins (tracing the backgrounds of how distinct varieties came to the UK).

Several the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. They all have stories behind them. The historical cultivar was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that fell from a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of nature and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see their names and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Throughout Britain

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will involve participants searching an art institution on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in the past decade. All formations will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a reading will be conducted to commemorate that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be hosting a open display about our alienation from the environment, as well as holding a communal feast, made using organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, a participant is broadcasting her musical project, in which community vocalists embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Young Insights

Following this approach, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in kids’ letters and drawings that document their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as mature perspectives,” she says in her public appeal. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and it may stimulate a feeling of duty from everyone. Youth is pure. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for the event he is planning to tackle a local symbol. He is also staging a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his Pansy Project over the past twenty years. This endeavor began when he experienced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since spiralled to cover events experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Apparently pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

Harfleet chose the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The project on the event day is to plant pansies at additional sites and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and