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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his final major projects. Recognized for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had spent a lifetime to addressing human struggles from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he stated, encouraging artists and creatives to resist the ongoing loss of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who cared for Metzger in his later life, recalls his feeling of immediacy. “He had a profound sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the initiative hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its influence can still be observed in movements like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their practices. That’s why she is relaunching it to commemorate its decade milestone. Among the featured creators taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Sowing Change

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in a rural area, cultivating apple trees that will develop into a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and part learning experience. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), science (exploring the hereditary traits), and origins (researching the journeys of how various cultivars were introduced to England).

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

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Every one carries background narratives. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that fell from a tree and hit Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the environment and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting them, on their next shopping trip, to read the label and see the variety and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will engage visitors searching a major gallery on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using special pens. When located, a bell will ring and a recitation will be conducted to honor that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be hosting a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a community dinner, cooked from sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which regional performers begin a project to sing plants back to health in a green space.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is hoping to fill a cultural venue in children’s artwork that capture their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her public appeal. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will inspire a sense of responsibility from each person. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about hope and making sure that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also connects with children. Drawing on past experience, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for the event he is planning to tackle a local symbol. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his ongoing series over the past twenty years. This endeavor began when he faced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a particular day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

Harfleet chose the pansy not just for the clear connection – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to plant pansies at fresh spots and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and