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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate major projects. Known for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to global challenges from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a global day of action to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your involvement in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he stated, urging cultural workers to oppose the ongoing loss of species. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore domains that are naturally imaginative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his later life, recalls his drive for action. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” 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 project hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in campaigns like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their methods. That’s why she is relaunching it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Among the 18 lead artists taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and other notable figures. Each has designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to one participant, she is on site in the countryside, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about measurements (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), biology (studying the apple’s DNA), and history (researching the journeys of how various cultivars came to the UK).

A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases red juice

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases red juice. Each has histories attached. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that fell from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed 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. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

Within the city, a participant’s Book of Loss will involve participants looking through an art institution on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in recent years. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a performance will be held to commemorate that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be hosting a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a shared meal, made using regional food. In another city, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her environmental performance, in which community vocalists undertake a task to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to fill an art space in youth creations that document their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and it may provoke a sense of responsibility from everyone. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they see a better world.”

Memorials and Memory

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves sketching winged creatures and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also staging a walking tour of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his ongoing series over the past twenty years. That ongoing series started after he faced three incidents of prejudice on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and document it – the project has since grown to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the pansy not just for the clear connection – 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 contemplative, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The project on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and