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In 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Recognized for creating art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting global challenges from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, encouraging cultural workers to stand against the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “Our task is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

Thus Remember Nature came into being, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, remembers his drive for action. “He had a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – we must act now. No need to pause for financial support or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its influence can still be seen in movements like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their methods. For this purpose she is reviving it to celebrate its decade milestone. Among the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has designed posters, made video appeals, and created artworks set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Planting Hope

Interviewing the artist, she is on site in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about measurements (spacing the planting intervals), science (exploring the hereditary traits), and history (tracing the journeys of how different apples were introduced to England).

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

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. They all have background narratives. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the environment and the control we have over it. “For a lot of them, 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 the variety and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

In London, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will engage visitors searching Tate Modern on a mission to find the ice masses that have been lost in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using special pens. When located, a bell will ring and a reading will be conducted to remember that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be putting on a open display about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a communal feast, prepared with regional food. Further north, Uta Kögelsberger is sharing her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Following this approach, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is planning to fill an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Kids’ art are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her public appeal. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a sense of responsibility from everyone. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about optimism and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is planning to represent a local symbol. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. The project started after he endured three incidents of discrimination on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences shared by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Apparently birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the flower 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. “It became associated with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to plant pansies at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the incidents and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

Harfleet hopes his work – and