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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his final important works. Recognized for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to confronting global challenges from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a international event to remember nature.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he stated, urging cultural workers to oppose the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “Our task is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

A decade on, the project hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but organizers feel its impact can still be felt in movements like cultural advocacy groups and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how makers handle the eco-friendliness of their work. That’s why she is reviving it to mark its decade milestone. Among the 18 lead artists taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. Each has designed posters, made video appeals, and created artworks set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a spiral-shaped orchard. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the design and cultivation sessions have already involved learning about maths (calculating the distances between trees), science (discussing the genetic makeup), and geography (researching the stories of how distinct varieties came to the UK).

Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases crimson liquid

“A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. Each has background narratives. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and hit Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of nature and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see their names and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

At the capital, one artist’s work about extinction will involve participants looking through an art institution on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been vanished in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a reading will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a public show about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a communal feast, cooked from organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, Uta Kögelsberger is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists undertake a task to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Young Insights

Following this approach, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is hoping to decorate an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that document their hopes and fears for the future. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can provoke a sense of responsibility from each person. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But let’s not make it about anxiety – it should be about hope and making sure that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to address an iconic figure. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. The project began when he faced three incidents of prejudice on a particular day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to place blooms at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the incidents and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

He desires his work – and