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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Known for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting global challenges from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, inviting artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of living beings. “The mission is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

Thus Remember Nature was born, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, remembers his sense of urgency. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. No need to pause for financial support or for anyone to green light this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its legacy can still be felt in campaigns like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their methods. This is the reason she is reviving it to mark its 10-year anniversary. Part of the featured creators involved this time are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. Each has produced imagery, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Planting Hope

When speaking to one participant, she is on site in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and half educational workshop. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about maths (spacing the gaps in the orchard), science (exploring the hereditary traits), and geography (mapping the backgrounds of how distinct varieties were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were selected 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 chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. Each has histories attached. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and hit Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of the environment and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, when they go shopping, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Throughout Britain

In London, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a journey to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in recent years. All formations will be depicted on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. When located, a chime will sound and a performance will be conducted to commemorate that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a community dinner, prepared with organic, local produce. Further north, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which local singers begin a project to perform for vegetation in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, another participant will be working with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is hoping to cover Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in youth creations that capture their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as inhibited as grown-ups’,” she says in her public appeal. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a sense of responsibility from everyone. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But let’s not make it about anxiety – it should be about hope and making sure that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is aiming to represent an iconic figure. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. This endeavor began when he faced three incidents of prejudice on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the direct association – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The plan on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his memories of them. “We’ve seen quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and