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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last major projects. Recognized for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had spent a lifetime to addressing global challenges from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he announced, inviting makers and thinkers to oppose the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “Our task is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

Thus Remember Nature came into being, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “My advice was – we must act now. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the initiative hasn’t quite triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but organizers feel its impact can still be observed in movements like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the eco-friendliness of their practices. This is the reason she is restaging it to commemorate its decade milestone. Included in the 18 lead artists taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. They have all produced imagery, made video appeals, and created artworks set to be presented on 4 November 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing one participant, she is out in a field in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and part learning experience. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), biology (studying the apple’s DNA), and origins (tracing the backgrounds 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 ‘bleeds’ scarcolored sap

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries stories behind them. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of the natural world and the control we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to read the label and see their names and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Nationwide

Within the city, a participant’s Book of Loss will engage visitors searching a major gallery on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been lost in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a reading will be held to remember that individual formation.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, an artist will be hosting a open display about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a shared meal, made using sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, a participant is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists begin a project to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to fill an art space in children’s artwork that express their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are powerful 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 quite unique and hopefully it will inspire a sense of responsibility from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about anxiety – it should be about positivity and us ensuring that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also connects with children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is intending to tackle a local symbol. He is also staging a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. This endeavor started after he endured multiple occurrences 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 expanded to incorporate experiences shared by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says with regret.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and