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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his final major projects. Famed for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to addressing societal issues from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to honor the environment.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on 4 November 2015,” he announced, urging makers and thinkers to stand against the ongoing loss of living beings. “The mission is to make audiences aware of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are inherently creative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for financial support or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

After ten years, Remember Nature may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its impact can still be observed in initiatives like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their practices. This is the reason she is restaging it to celebrate its decade milestone. Among the featured creators involved this time are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has created visual art, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to one participant, she is on site in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. As she explains, the design and cultivation sessions have already included learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), genetics (studying the hereditary traits), and history (researching the stories of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that releases red juice

“Several the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. Each has stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that descended from a tree and hit Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see what they’re called and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

In London, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a journey to find the ice masses that have been vanished in the past decade. All formations will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. When located, a bell will ring and a performance will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in another location, a creative will be hosting a open display about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a shared meal, cooked from regional food. Further north, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which regional performers begin a project 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 aiming to decorate a cultural venue in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something quite unique and it may inspire a feeling of duty from everyone. Youth is pure. They have fears about the future. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about hope and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Paul Harfleet’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his ongoing series over the past twenty years. The project commenced following he experienced multiple occurrences of prejudice on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

Harfleet chose the pansy not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to plant pansies at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the incidents and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says with regret.

Advancing Positively

Harfleet hopes his work – and