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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his final major projects. Famed for creating auto-destructive art, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing human struggles from peace activism to plant-based living. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he stated, urging cultural workers to stand against the steady eradication of species. “The mission is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter domains that are inherently creative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

Thus the environmental art day was established, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his final years, recalls his feeling of immediacy. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. No need to pause for financial support or for anyone to approve this. Let’s just do it.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the project hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its impact can still be observed in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their practices. This is the reason she is restaging it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Among the key participants taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. All participants have designed posters, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be unveiled on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to the artist, she is on site in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and half educational workshop. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already involved learning about measurements (calculating the distances between trees), genetics (discussing the genetic makeup), and history (tracing the backgrounds of how various cultivars came to the UK).

Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that produces crimson liquid

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. They all have stories behind them. The decio apple was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of nature and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see their names and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

In London, a participant’s Book of Loss will include attendees exploring an art institution on a quest to find the ice masses that have been vanished in the past decade. Each glacier will be depicted on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a recitation will be performed to commemorate that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in another location, a creative will be hosting a public show about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a community dinner, prepared with regional food. Over in Newcastle, a participant is broadcasting her environmental performance, in which local singers undertake a task to sing plants back to health in a green space.

Young Insights

Following this approach, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that document their hopes and fears for the future. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and it may inspire a sense of responsibility from us all. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about optimism and making sure that they get a future.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also connects with children. Drawing on past experience, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for Remember Nature day he is intending to address an iconic figure. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. That ongoing series began when he experienced three incidents of prejudice on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and record it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

He picked the flower not just for the clear connection – it has long been a slur – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to plant pansies at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has previously memorialised, all the while conversing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and