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In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Known for creating art that erases itself, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he requested support for a international event to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he announced, urging artists and creatives to resist the continuing disappearance of living beings. “The mission is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, the initiative hasn’t quite triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but organizers feel its influence can still be felt in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the environmental impact of their methods. That’s why she is relaunching it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Part of the 18 lead artists involved this time are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. Each has designed posters, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

Interviewing the artist, she is on site in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about measurements (calculating the gaps in the orchard), genetics (exploring the genetic makeup), and origins (tracing the journeys of how different apples were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that produces crimson liquid

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. They all have stories behind them. The historical cultivar was brought over by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, when they go shopping, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and the source. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

At the capital, one artist’s work about extinction will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in recent years. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a performance will be performed to honor that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, an artist will be putting on a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using sustainable ingredients. Further north, an artist is streaming her musical project, in which regional performers embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to cover an art space in youth creations that capture their dreams and worries for the future. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will inspire a sense of responsibility from us all. Kids are unbiased. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is aiming to represent Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the past twenty years. That ongoing series began when he faced three incidents of prejudice on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and document it – the project has since expanded to cover events experienced by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

Harfleet chose the flower not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The project on the event day is to place blooms at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the events and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and