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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last significant endeavors. Recognized for introducing self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to confronting human struggles from peace activism to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, encouraging makers and thinkers to stand against the ongoing loss of living beings. “The mission is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

And so Remember Nature was born, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his later life, recalls his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, the initiative did not sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in movements like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their methods. For this purpose she is restaging it to celebrate its decade milestone. Among the featured creators taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and other notable figures. All participants have designed posters, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in the countryside, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about measurements (calculating the distances between trees), science (discussing the hereditary traits), and origins (researching the backgrounds of how various cultivars were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid

“Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. They all have histories attached. The ancient variety was introduced by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more actively aware of nature and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see the variety and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

In London, one artist’s Book of Loss will engage visitors exploring Tate Modern on a quest to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using special pens. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a performance will be conducted to commemorate that individual formation.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, a creative will be putting on a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a shared meal, prepared with sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, a participant is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers begin a project to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that document their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and it may provoke a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about positivity and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Memorials and Memory

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. This endeavor began when he endured several events of homophobic abuse on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems 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 derogatory label – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The project on the event day is to place blooms at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the incidents and his memories of them. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and