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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate important works. Known for creating art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to societal issues from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, encouraging makers and thinkers to stand against the ongoing loss of living beings. “The mission is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his feeling of immediacy. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, the initiative may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its impact can still be felt in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their work. For this purpose she is relaunching it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Part of the key participants participating now are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have produced imagery, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

When speaking to Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (calculating the distances between trees), science (discussing the genetic makeup), and history (tracing the journeys of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that produces crimson liquid

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that releases red juice. They all have stories behind them. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of nature and the control we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see the variety and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Throughout Britain

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will engage visitors exploring a major gallery on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in recent years. All formations will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a recitation will be held to commemorate that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in another location, an artist will be hosting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using sustainable ingredients. Further north, a participant is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Young Insights

Following this approach, another participant will be working with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to decorate a cultural venue in children’s artwork that document their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something quite unique and perhaps it can inspire a feeling of duty from everyone. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about positivity and making sure that they see a better world.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also connects with children. Drawing on past experience, his feathered initiative involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is planning to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also organizing a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. This endeavor began when he faced three incidents of prejudice on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the direct association – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The project on Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also renew the tributes in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the events and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says with regret.

Advancing Positively

The artist wishes his work – and