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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger launched one of his final important works. Known for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to addressing societal issues from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he requested support for a worldwide initiative to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he declared, inviting artists and creatives to stand against the continuing disappearance of living beings. “Our responsibility is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his final years, notes his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I just said – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to green light this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the initiative may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its impact can still be seen in movements like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their methods. That’s why she is restaging it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Part of the 18 lead artists participating now are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. Each has produced imagery, shared messages, and produced installations set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to one participant, she is working outdoors in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and half educational workshop. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about maths (spacing the planting intervals), genetics (exploring the genetic makeup), and history (researching the backgrounds of how different apples arrived in Britain).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that produces red juice

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases red juice. Each has histories attached. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more actively aware of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see the variety and where they were grown. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

In London, a participant’s work about extinction will include attendees looking through an art institution on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been vanished in recent years. Each glacier will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. When located, a chime will sound and a recitation will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be putting on a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as organizing a shared meal, cooked from organic, local produce. Further north, Uta Kögelsberger is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Young Insights

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to cover Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that express their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something distinctive and hopefully it will provoke a sense of responsibility from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But let’s not make it about fear – it should be about positivity and our responsibility that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is aiming to tackle an iconic figure. He is also organizing a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. This endeavor began when he experienced several events of prejudice on a one occasion. 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 experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – 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 terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on the event day is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

Harfleet hopes his work – and