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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate major projects. Known for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to societal issues from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I call upon you for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, inviting artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of living beings. “The mission is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

In this way Remember Nature was born, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, notes his feeling of immediacy. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

After ten years, Remember Nature did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its impact can still be observed in movements like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their methods. That’s why she is relaunching it to mark its ten-year mark. Included in the featured creators taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and Anya Gallaccio. They have all designed posters, made video appeals, and created artworks set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will create a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already included learning about mathematics (calculating the gaps in the orchard), biology (discussing the hereditary traits), and history (mapping the journeys of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that produces scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Every one carries background narratives. The historical cultivar was imported by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that descended from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

She hoped 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 urging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see the variety and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

In London, one artist’s work about extinction will engage visitors searching Tate Modern on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in recent years. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using special pens. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a reading will be held to commemorate that individual formation.

At the same time, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a open display about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a communal feast, cooked from sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, Uta Kögelsberger is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, another participant will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to fill an art space in youth creations that capture their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and it may provoke a awareness of obligation from us all. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Paul Harfleet’s work also appeals to children. Drawing on past experience, his feathered initiative involves sketching winged creatures and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is planning to tackle Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. That ongoing series began when he experienced three incidents of prejudice 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 expanded to incorporate experiences shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

The artist selected the flower not just for the direct association – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its origin is 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 project on 4 November is to place blooms at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and