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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Known for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to human struggles from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to honor the environment.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, urging makers and thinkers to resist the steady eradication of species. “Our task is to make audiences aware of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who cared for Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “I sensed a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

Ten Years On

After ten years, Remember Nature may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in movements like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their methods. That’s why she is reviving it to mark its ten-year mark. Part of the 18 lead artists participating now are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. They have all produced imagery, made video appeals, and produced installations set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

When speaking to Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. As she explains, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), science (exploring the genetic makeup), and history (tracing the backgrounds of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that produces red juice

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. They all have stories behind them. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at 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!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

At the capital, a participant’s Book of Loss will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a quest to find the ice masses that have been lost in modern times. All formations will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a alert will occur and a reading will be performed to remember that individual formation.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a communal feast, cooked from sustainable ingredients. Further north, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which community vocalists undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Young Insights

Following this approach, another participant will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to cover Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in kids’ letters and drawings that express their hopes and fears for the future. “Youthful expressions are compelling because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “Young people’s input to the world is something quite unique and it may provoke a feeling of duty from each person. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about anxiety – it should be about hope and making sure that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is planning to tackle an iconic figure. He is also organizing a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. The project started after he experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a particular day. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the direct association – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to place blooms at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the events and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says with regret.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and