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In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his final significant endeavors. Recognized for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to human struggles from peace activism to vegetarianism. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he stated, inviting artists and creatives to stand against the ongoing loss of flora and fauna. “The mission is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when creatives nationwide produced pieces to the ongoing environmental crisis. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his last days, remembers his drive for action. “He had a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. We shouldn’t hold back for financial support or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its impact can still be observed in campaigns like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their work. That’s why she is restaging it to mark its ten-year mark. Among the 18 lead artists involved this time are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. They have all produced imagery, made video appeals, and produced installations set to be presented on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

When speaking to one participant, she is on site in the countryside, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (calculating the distances between trees), science (discussing the hereditary traits), and history (tracing the stories of how distinct varieties were introduced to England).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases crimson liquid

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. They all have histories attached. The historical cultivar was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that fell from a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

In London, a participant’s project on disappearance will include attendees looking through a major gallery on a journey to find the ice masses that have been lost in the past decade. All formations will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a performance will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, a creative will be presenting a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a communal feast, cooked from organic, local produce. In another city, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which regional performers embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to cover a cultural venue in youth creations that capture their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as grown-ups’,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can provoke a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But this shouldn’t be about anxiety – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day he is intending to address a local symbol. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. The project began when he endured several events of discrimination on a particular day. In response, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy 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 don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys 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 etymology comes 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 Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at additional sites 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 since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and