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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last major projects. Known for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he requested support for a global day of action to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he declared, inviting makers and thinkers to oppose the ongoing loss of living beings. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, recalls his drive for action. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. No need to pause for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

A decade on, the project may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its influence can still be felt in campaigns like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their methods. That’s why she is reviving it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Among the 18 lead artists participating now are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Sowing Change

In conversation with the artist, she is working outdoors in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already involved learning about measurements (spacing the planting intervals), genetics (exploring the hereditary traits), and origins (researching the stories of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that produces crimson liquid

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice. Every one carries histories attached. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see what they’re called and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

At the capital, a participant’s project on disappearance will involve participants exploring a major gallery on a journey to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in modern times. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a recitation will be performed to commemorate that individual formation.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, an artist will be hosting a open display about our alienation from the environment, as well as organizing a community dinner, prepared with regional food. Further north, a participant 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.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is hoping to decorate a cultural venue in children’s artwork that express their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are compelling because they’re not as inhibited as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and perhaps it can provoke a awareness of obligation from everyone. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day he is aiming to represent an iconic figure. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. That ongoing series began when he experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and document it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the direct association – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The plan on the event day is to plant pansies at fresh spots and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the incidents and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

The artist wishes his work – and