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During 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate important works. Recognized for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing global challenges from peace activism to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he announced, encouraging artists and creatives to oppose the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “Our task is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore domains that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

Thus the environmental art day came into being, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, remembers his drive for action. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, Remember Nature hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its legacy can still be felt in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their work. That’s why she is relaunching it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Part of the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. They have all created visual art, made video appeals, and produced installations set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about measurements (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), biology (studying the hereditary traits), and origins (mapping the stories of how different apples arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that produces scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. Each has stories behind them. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and landed on the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the environment and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

At the capital, one artist’s work about extinction will include attendees exploring Tate Modern on a mission to find the ice masses that have been lost in recent years. All formations will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a performance will be conducted to commemorate that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a community dinner, made using sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, an artist is streaming her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in a green space.

Youth Perspectives

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is hoping to cover an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that document their dreams and worries for the future. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and perhaps it can inspire a awareness of obligation from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about fear – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they get a future.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to tackle a local symbol. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. That ongoing series commenced following he experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since expanded to include incidents experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected 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 thoughtful, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” 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 conversing with those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and