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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last major projects. Recognized for creating art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing global challenges from peace activism to ethical eating. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he announced, urging cultural workers to oppose the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “The mission is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his last days, recalls his drive for action. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “My advice was – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

A decade on, Remember Nature did not sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its legacy can still be observed in campaigns like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their practices. That’s why she is restaging it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Among the featured creators participating now are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have designed posters, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to the artist, she is out in a field in the countryside, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already involved learning about maths (calculating the gaps in the orchard), genetics (studying the genetic makeup), and origins (researching the backgrounds of how different apples were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that produces scarcolored sap

“Several the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Every one carries stories behind them. The historical cultivar was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was prompting them, next time they were out, to read the label and see their names and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

Within the city, one artist’s Book of Loss will engage visitors searching Tate Modern on a quest to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in modern times. All formations will be depicted on the museum surfaces using special pens. When located, a bell will ring and a recitation will be performed to commemorate that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in another location, an artist will be putting on a open display about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a communal feast, prepared with sustainable ingredients. Further north, an artist is streaming her environmental performance, in which community vocalists begin a project to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is planning to fill an art space in children’s artwork that capture their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Children’s words and images are powerful because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her public appeal. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and it may stimulate a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about positivity and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is aiming to tackle an iconic figure. He is also organizing a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. That ongoing series began when he experienced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since grown to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the clear connection – it has long been a slur – but also because its name derives from 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 additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the itinerant journey about the events and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and