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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last significant endeavors. Recognized for introducing self-destructive creations, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to human struggles from anti-nuclear advocacy to plant-based living. Through a short video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your involvement in this international summons for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, inviting artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of living beings. “Our responsibility is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are inherently creative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his last days, remembers his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the initiative did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its impact can still be observed in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their practices. That’s why she is restaging it to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. Part of the 18 lead artists involved this time are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. All participants have produced imagery, made video appeals, and produced installations set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the design and cultivation sessions have already included learning about mathematics (calculating the gaps in the orchard), genetics (studying the apple’s DNA), and history (tracing the stories of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces crimson liquid. They all have background narratives. The historical cultivar was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see their names and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

At the capital, a participant’s Book of Loss will include attendees exploring an art institution on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in modern times. All formations will be depicted on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. When located, a chime will sound and a recitation will be held to commemorate that particular glacier.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a open display about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a community dinner, cooked from sustainable ingredients. In another city, a participant is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists undertake a task to perform for vegetation in a green space.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to fill a cultural venue in children’s artwork that document their hopes and fears for the future. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will provoke a sense of responsibility from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about worry – it should be about hope and making sure that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also connects with children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is intending to address an iconic figure. He is also staging a itinerant journey of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. The project commenced following he experienced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and document it – the project has since spiralled to cover events shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Apparently birds consume them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” 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 discussing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says with regret.

Advancing Positively

Harfleet hopes his work – and