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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate important works. Recognized for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a international event to honor the environment.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on November 4th, 2015,” he announced, urging cultural workers to resist the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to make audiences aware of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter domains that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

Thus the environmental art day was born, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, notes his drive for action. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to approve this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

A decade on, Remember Nature hasn’t quite triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its influence can still be observed in initiatives like Culture Declares and climate activism networks, as well as in how artists approach the eco-friendliness of their practices. That’s why she is reviving it to commemorate its decade milestone. Part of the featured creators involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. They have all designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be unveiled on the fourth of November next year.

Sowing Change

When speaking to the artist, she is out in a field in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and part learning experience. As she explains, the design and cultivation sessions have already involved learning about maths (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), biology (exploring the apple’s DNA), and origins (mapping the stories of how various cultivars were introduced to England).

Several the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that produces scarcolored sap

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries stories behind them. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that descended from a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed 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 buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see their names and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

At the capital, one artist’s work about extinction will engage visitors exploring an art institution on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in modern times. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the museum surfaces using special pens. Each discovery, a chime will sound and a recitation will be held to commemorate that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in another location, an artist will be presenting a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a communal feast, made using sustainable ingredients. In another city, a participant is broadcasting her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers begin a project to perform for vegetation in a green space.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is planning to decorate a cultural venue in children’s artwork that capture their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her public appeal. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will inspire a awareness of obligation from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about hope and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to tackle Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also staging a itinerant journey of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. This endeavor began when he experienced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a particular day. In response, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to plant pansies 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 recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says with regret.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and