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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his final major projects. Recognized for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to human struggles from peace activism to vegetarianism. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a global day of action 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 the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, inviting artists and creatives to stand against the steady eradication of living beings. “The mission is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his last days, remembers his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the project may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its legacy can still be felt in campaigns like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how makers handle the eco-friendliness of their practices. This is the reason she is reviving it to mark its ten-year mark. Part of the 18 lead artists involved this time are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. All participants have produced imagery, shared messages, and created artworks set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Planting Hope

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), science (exploring the genetic makeup), and geography (mapping the stories of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases red juice

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that releases red juice. They all have histories attached. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected 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 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 exploring Tate Modern on a journey to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in recent years. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. When located, a bell will ring and a reading will be conducted to honor that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, an artist will be putting on a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a community dinner, prepared with sustainable ingredients. Further north, an artist is streaming her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to cover a cultural venue in youth creations that document their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a sense of responsibility from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they get a future.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also connects with children. Drawing on past experience, his feathered initiative involves sketching winged creatures and then performing as birds – and for the event he is aiming to tackle a local symbol. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. The project commenced following he experienced three incidents of prejudice on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and photograph it – the project has since grown to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The plan on the event day is to plant pansies at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and