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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last important works. Known for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing societal issues from peace activism to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on November 4th, 2015,” he announced, encouraging makers and thinkers to oppose the steady eradication of living beings. “Our task is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who cared for Metzger in his last days, recalls his feeling of immediacy. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. No need to pause for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the initiative hasn’t quite triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its impact can still be seen in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their methods. This is the reason she is restaging it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Included in the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. They have all created visual art, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

When speaking to the artist, she is out in a field in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will create a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and half educational workshop. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (calculating the gaps in the orchard), genetics (exploring the hereditary traits), and geography (tracing the journeys of how distinct varieties came to the UK).

Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries histories attached. The decio apple 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 influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see what they’re called and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Artistic Responses Across the Country

At the capital, a participant’s Book of Loss will involve participants searching a major gallery on a quest to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in modern times. Each glacier will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a performance will be held to commemorate that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in another location, an artist will be presenting a open display about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a community dinner, cooked from sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, an artist is streaming her musical project, in which community vocalists begin a project to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and hopefully it will inspire a sense of responsibility from us all. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about anxiety – it should be about positivity and us ensuring that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

A participant’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then embodying them – and for the event he is planning to tackle an iconic figure. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. This endeavor started after he experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and document it – the project has since expanded to include incidents experienced 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 ephemeral memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom 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. “People connected it with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the events and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and