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During 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last significant endeavors. Known for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had dedicated his life to confronting global challenges from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a international event to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on November 4th, 2015,” he stated, encouraging makers and thinkers to oppose the ongoing loss of flora and fauna. “The mission is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

And so Remember Nature was born, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his final years, recalls his sense of urgency. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – let’s not mess around. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to approve this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, Remember Nature did not sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its impact can still be seen in campaigns like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their practices. For this purpose she is restaging it to celebrate its decade milestone. Part of the featured creators participating now are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. Each has designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in the countryside, cultivating apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), science (discussing the hereditary traits), and origins (mapping the stories of how distinct varieties came to the UK).

Several the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces crimson liquid. Each has histories attached. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware of nature and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was urging them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Artistic Responses Across the Country

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will include attendees searching Tate Modern on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in recent years. Each glacier will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a performance will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in another location, an artist will be presenting a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as organizing a shared meal, cooked from regional food. In another city, a participant is sharing her environmental performance, in which community vocalists begin a project to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to decorate a cultural venue in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something truly special and perhaps it can stimulate a sense of responsibility from each person. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about positivity and our responsibility that they see a better world.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is aiming to represent Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. That ongoing series began when he endured multiple occurrences of prejudice on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys 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 name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the guided walk about the incidents and his recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and