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During 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger launched one of his final major projects. Recognized for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing societal issues from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he declared, encouraging cultural workers to stand against the continuing disappearance of species. “The mission is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore domains that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, recalls his feeling of immediacy. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. No need to pause for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, the initiative did not sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its influence can still be seen in movements like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their methods. For this purpose she is restaging it to commemorate its decade milestone. Included in the 18 lead artists taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. They have all designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in the countryside, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into 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 mathematics (spacing the distances between trees), science (discussing the genetic makeup), and origins (researching the journeys of how different apples came to the UK).

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

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. They all have stories behind them. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected 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 the variety and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will engage visitors searching a major gallery on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in recent years. All formations will be depicted on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a recitation will be conducted to remember that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in a northern town, an artist will be putting on a open display about our separation from nature, as well as holding a community dinner, made using sustainable ingredients. In another city, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her environmental performance, in which community vocalists begin a project to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Like Gallaccio, Cornelia Parker will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to cover a cultural venue in youth creations that document their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can inspire a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about optimism and making sure that they get a future.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is intending to tackle an iconic figure. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. This endeavor began when he endured several events of prejudice on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since grown to cover events reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the bloom not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to sow flowers at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the guided walk about the events and his memories of them. “There’s been quite a few since I last planted,” he says with regret.

Progressing Optimistically

He desires his work – and