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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last important works. Famed for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to societal issues from peace activism to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I call upon you for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, encouraging cultural workers to oppose the ongoing loss of species. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

Thus Remember Nature was born, a day when artists across the country developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its impact can still be felt in movements like cultural advocacy groups and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how makers handle the eco-friendliness of their practices. That’s why she is restaging it to mark its ten-year mark. Included in the 18 lead artists taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. They have all created visual art, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

When speaking to one participant, she is out in a field in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will create a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and half educational workshop. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (calculating the planting intervals), science (studying the apple’s DNA), and history (researching the backgrounds of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were picked 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 picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. Each has background narratives. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, 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 what they’re called and their origin. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Across the Country

In London, one artist’s work about extinction will involve participants searching Tate Modern on a journey to find the ice masses that have been vanished in recent years. Each glacier will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. When located, a bell will ring and a recitation will be held to remember that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as holding a community dinner, prepared with organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which regional performers begin a project to perform for vegetation in a green space.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is planning to cover an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are compelling because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her public appeal. “Young people’s input to the world is something distinctive and hopefully it will stimulate a awareness of obligation from everyone. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about hope and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is intending to represent a local symbol. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. That ongoing series began when he faced three incidents of discrimination on a particular day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and document it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

He picked the pansy 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 reflective, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to place blooms at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the events and his memories of them. “We’ve seen quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and