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In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his last important works. Recognized for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to global challenges from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to honor the environment.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your involvement in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, urging artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “The mission is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his final years, notes his sense of urgency. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – we must act now. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the initiative may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its influence can still be felt in initiatives like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their work. That’s why she is restaging it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Among the 18 lead artists taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. They have all created visual art, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Planting Hope

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and somewhat instructive. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about measurements (spacing the gaps in the orchard), biology (studying the hereditary traits), and origins (mapping the journeys of how different apples 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,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Every one carries stories behind them. The historical cultivar was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see the variety and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Nationwide

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will involve participants looking through a major gallery on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in recent years. Every ice sheet will be depicted on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. When located, a bell will ring and a reading will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in another location, an artist will be hosting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a community dinner, cooked from regional food. Further north, an artist is broadcasting her musical project, in which regional performers begin a project to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill a cultural venue in children’s artwork that capture their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and it may stimulate a awareness of obligation from each person. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

A participant’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is intending to tackle a local symbol. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his long-term work 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 plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since spiralled to cover events reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy 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. “It became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to sow flowers at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and