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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last significant endeavors. Recognized for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing human struggles from peace activism to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your involvement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, encouraging artists and creatives to stand against the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “The mission is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

Thus Remember Nature was born, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, remembers his sense of urgency. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. No need to pause for financial support or for anyone to approve this. Let’s just do it.”

A Decade Later

After ten years, the project did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its influence can still be observed in initiatives like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their practices. For this purpose she is relaunching it to commemorate its decade milestone. Part of the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. They have all produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

When speaking to Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), biology (studying the apple’s DNA), and geography (mapping the backgrounds of how different apples were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases crimson liquid

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. They all have background narratives. The historical cultivar was brought over by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Across the Country

At the capital, one artist’s Book of Loss will engage visitors looking through an art institution on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in the past decade. Each glacier will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. When located, a alert will occur and a reading will be held to honor that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in another location, an artist will be presenting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a community dinner, made using regional food. Over in Newcastle, a participant is sharing her environmental performance, in which local singers embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill a cultural venue in children’s artwork that document their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will stimulate a awareness of obligation from us all. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also connects with children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day he is intending to tackle an iconic figure. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. The project started after he experienced three incidents of discrimination on a particular day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

He picked the flower not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – 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 bad quality,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to plant pansies at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the incidents and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and