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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his final major projects. Known for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to confronting human struggles from peace activism to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he announced, urging artists and creatives to stand against the continuing disappearance of species. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his drive for action. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to green light this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, Remember Nature may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its influence can still be observed in movements like Culture Declares and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their work. This is the reason she is restaging it to mark its 10-year anniversary. Among the featured creators taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. Each has produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Sowing Change

Interviewing the artist, she is on site in a rural area, cultivating apple trees that will create a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. She describes, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), genetics (exploring the hereditary traits), and origins (researching the backgrounds of how different apples arrived in Britain).

Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases red juice

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Each has histories attached. 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.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the power we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

At the capital, a participant’s project on disappearance will include attendees searching an art institution on a journey to find the frozen formations that have been lost in modern times. Every ice sheet will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. When located, a alert will occur and a performance will be held to commemorate that particular glacier.

Elsewhere, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be hosting a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a communal feast, made using organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, a participant is sharing her musical project, in which regional performers undertake a task to sing plants back to health in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is hoping to decorate a cultural venue in youth creations that document their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and perhaps it can stimulate a awareness of obligation from us all. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves illustrating avians and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also staging a walking tour of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. That ongoing series began when he experienced multiple occurrences of discrimination on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys 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 reflective, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to plant pansies at additional sites and also refresh the memorials in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the itinerant journey about the events and his memories of them. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and