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During 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last significant endeavors. Known for introducing art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to societal issues from peace activism to plant-based living. In a brief video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, encouraging cultural workers to stand against the ongoing loss of living beings. “The mission is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his final years, recalls his sense of urgency. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. Take action immediately.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the project did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its influence can still be observed in initiatives like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the environmental impact of their methods. For this purpose she is relaunching it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Among the key participants participating now are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. All participants have produced imagery, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with one participant, she is working outdoors in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (spacing the distances between trees), genetics (discussing the hereditary traits), and origins (tracing the stories of how different apples arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. Each has histories attached. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see their names and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Throughout Britain

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will engage visitors searching Tate Modern on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been lost in recent years. Each glacier will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a alert will occur and a reading will be performed to honor that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be putting on a public show about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a community dinner, made using sustainable ingredients. Further north, an artist is sharing her environmental performance, in which regional performers begin a project to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is hoping to decorate a cultural venue in youth creations that capture their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and it may inspire a sense of responsibility from everyone. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to represent Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. The project started after he endured multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since expanded to cover events shared 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 ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a slur – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The project on the event day is to sow flowers at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and