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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate major projects. Recognized for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting global challenges from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your involvement in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he stated, encouraging cultural workers to resist the continuing disappearance 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 domains that are naturally imaginative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his later life, remembers his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I just said – let’s not mess around. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

A decade on, the project did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its influence can still be felt in initiatives like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the eco-friendliness of their work. That’s why she is reviving it to commemorate its decade milestone. Part of the 18 lead artists taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. Each has produced imagery, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with the artist, she is working outdoors in the countryside, cultivating apple trees that will grow to form a spiral-shaped orchard. Working with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (measuring out the distances between trees), science (studying the genetic makeup), and geography (mapping the journeys of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases crimson liquid

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Every one carries stories behind them. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware of the natural world and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

At the capital, a participant’s project on disappearance will include attendees searching Tate Modern on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in modern times. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a reading will be performed to honor that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a open display about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a shared meal, made using sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, an artist is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists embark on a mission to use music to heal flora in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that express their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her call to action video. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and it may inspire a sense of responsibility from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about hope and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves illustrating avians and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is intending to represent an iconic figure. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. The project began when he faced several events of homophobic abuse on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly birds consume them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on the event day is to place blooms at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the incidents and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Advancing Positively

The artist wishes his work – and