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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Famed for introducing art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to confronting societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a global day of action to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on November 4th, 2015,” he announced, inviting makers and thinkers to resist the ongoing loss of species. “Our task is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are inherently creative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

And so the environmental art day was born, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, Remember Nature hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its impact can still be seen 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 restaging it to mark its decade milestone. Part of the key participants involved this time are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. Each has designed posters, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with one participant, she is out in a field in a rural area, cultivating apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and part learning experience. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (calculating the distances between trees), science (studying the genetic makeup), and origins (tracing the stories of how distinct varieties came to the UK).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid

“A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases red juice. Every one carries stories behind them. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and landed on the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more thoughtfully connected of nature and the influence we have over it. “To many 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 the variety and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

Within the city, one artist’s project on disappearance will engage visitors looking through a major gallery on a journey to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in recent years. Each glacier will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a performance will be conducted to honor that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in another location, an artist will be putting on a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a community dinner, prepared with regional food. Further north, a participant is broadcasting her musical project, in which local singers begin a project to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Young Insights

Following this approach, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is hoping to fill a cultural venue in youth creations that express their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something truly special and it may stimulate a feeling of duty from each person. Youth is pure. They have anxieties about what’s next. But it isn’t meant to be about worry – it should be about positivity and us ensuring that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is intending to represent an iconic figure. He is also conducting a guided walk 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 discrimination on a one occasion. In response, 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 place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

The artist selected the bloom 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. “It was linked to a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The plan on the event day is to plant pansies at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

He desires his work – and