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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate major projects. Recognized for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing global challenges from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a global day of action to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he announced, urging cultural workers to oppose the ongoing loss of living beings. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore territories that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

Thus the environmental art day came into being, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain developed works to the unfolding climate catastrophe. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his later life, remembers his drive for action. “He had a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its legacy can still be seen in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their methods. This is the reason she is restaging it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Included in the 18 lead artists taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have designed posters, shared messages, and produced installations set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

Interviewing one participant, she is out in a field in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Working with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and half educational workshop. She describes, the design and cultivation sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (calculating the distances between trees), biology (exploring the hereditary traits), and geography (mapping the stories of how different apples came to the UK).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” she explains. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. Each has background narratives. The ancient variety was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was urging them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see their names and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Artistic Responses Across the Country

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s Book of Loss will include attendees searching a major gallery on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been lost in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a performance will be conducted to commemorate that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be hosting a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as organizing a community dinner, prepared with organic, local produce. Further north, Uta Kögelsberger is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers undertake a task to sing plants back to health in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Following this approach, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to decorate an art space in children’s artwork that document their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will inspire a sense of responsibility from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about positivity and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is aiming to represent a local symbol. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. This endeavor started after he experienced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a particular day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to cover events reported by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the pansy 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 became associated with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to sow flowers at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and