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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his final important works. Known for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to societal issues from peace activism to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he requested support for a global day of action to celebrate the natural world.

“I call upon you for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, inviting artists and creatives to stand against the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “Our task is to make audiences aware of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are inherently creative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

And so the environmental art day was established, a day when artists across the country created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, recalls his drive for action. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to green light this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but organizers feel its influence can still be felt in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their practices. For this purpose she is relaunching it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Part of the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. Each has produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be presented on 4 November 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (calculating the distances between trees), biology (discussing the hereditary traits), and origins (mapping the stories of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that produces red juice

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. They all have background narratives. The ancient variety was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck the physicist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the environment and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see their names and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

At the capital, a participant’s project on disappearance will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a journey to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in recent years. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a performance will be held to honor that individual formation.

At the same time, up in a northern town, a creative will be putting on a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a community dinner, made using regional food. Over in Newcastle, a participant is broadcasting her musical project, in which community vocalists undertake a task to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to cover a cultural venue in children’s artwork that capture their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Kids’ art are powerful because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can stimulate a feeling of duty from everyone. Youth is pure. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about anxiety – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the event he is planning to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. That ongoing series commenced following he faced multiple occurrences of discrimination on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and record it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The project on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the events and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

Harfleet hopes his work – and