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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his final significant endeavors. Recognized for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to societal issues from peace activism to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your involvement in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, urging artists and creatives to resist the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “The mission is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

Thus Remember Nature was born, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his final years, remembers his drive for action. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “My advice was – we must act now. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the initiative hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its influence can still be observed in campaigns like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their work. That’s why she is relaunching it to mark its 10-year anniversary. Part of the key participants involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. Each has produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with one participant, she is out in a field in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will create a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and half educational workshop. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (spacing the gaps in the orchard), biology (discussing the genetic makeup), and history (mapping the journeys of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

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

“Several the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. They all have 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.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see what they’re called and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Throughout Britain

Within the city, a participant’s project on disappearance will involve participants searching Tate Modern on a mission to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in the past decade. All formations will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. When located, a alert will occur and a recitation will be held to honor that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in a northern town, an artist will be hosting a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as holding a communal feast, cooked from regional food. In another city, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her musical project, in which local singers begin a project to use music to heal flora in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to cover Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in kids’ letters and drawings that express their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are compelling because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and it may provoke a awareness of obligation from us all. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about fear – it should be about positivity and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is planning to tackle an iconic figure. He is also organizing a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. This endeavor commenced following he endured several events of discrimination on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and photograph it – the project has since expanded to include incidents experienced by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the obvious reason – 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 terrible thing,” he says.

The intention on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and