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During 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate important works. Known for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting global challenges from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a international event to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to remember nature on 4 November 2015,” he declared, inviting makers and thinkers to oppose the ongoing loss of flora and fauna. “The mission is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain developed works to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its impact can still be felt in campaigns like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their practices. For this purpose she is relaunching it to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. Part of the 18 lead artists involved this time are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have designed posters, 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 a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a spiral-shaped orchard. Working with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about maths (calculating the planting intervals), biology (exploring the genetic makeup), and origins (tracing the stories of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

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

“A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Each has stories behind them. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that descended from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of the environment and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and where they were grown. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

Within the city, one artist’s Book of Loss will engage visitors searching Tate Modern on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in the past decade. Each glacier will be drawn on the museum surfaces using special pens. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a performance will be performed to honor that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be hosting a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a shared meal, prepared with sustainable ingredients. In another city, an artist is broadcasting her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, another participant will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that document their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something quite unique and it may provoke a sense of responsibility from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about positivity and our responsibility that they get a future.”

Memorials and Memory

Paul Harfleet’s work also appeals to children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves sketching winged creatures and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. That ongoing series commenced following he endured multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a particular day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since expanded to cover events reported by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its origin is 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 plan on the event day is to place blooms at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the itinerant journey about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says with regret.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and