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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his last significant endeavors. Famed for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing societal issues from peace activism to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a international event to remember nature.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on 4 November 2015,” he announced, urging makers and thinkers to oppose the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “The mission is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

In this way Remember Nature was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who supported Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I just said – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, Remember Nature may not have incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its impact can still be felt in movements like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their work. This is the reason she is relaunching it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Included in the featured creators taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. All participants have created visual art, shared messages, and created artworks set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), science (exploring the genetic makeup), and origins (mapping the journeys of how different apples came to the UK).

Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. 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’ crimson liquid. Every one carries stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see what they’re called and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

Within the city, one artist’s Book of Loss will engage visitors looking through an art institution on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in recent years. All formations will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a performance will be held to remember that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in a northern town, a creative will be putting on a public show about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a community dinner, made using organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, an artist is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which local singers undertake a task to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill a cultural venue in youth creations that express their hopes and fears for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her call to action video. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and it may stimulate a awareness of obligation from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about fear – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

A participant’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is intending to address a local symbol. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. This endeavor commenced following he experienced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and record it – the project has since spiralled to cover events reported by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at fresh spots and also renew the tributes in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the incidents and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and