🔗 Share this article

In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate significant endeavors. Famed for creating auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing human struggles from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he requested support for a international event to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, inviting artists and creatives to stand against the steady eradication of living beings. “The mission is to help the public recall of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

Thus Remember Nature was established, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “He had a profound sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the initiative may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its impact can still be observed in movements like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how makers handle the environmental impact of their methods. For this purpose she is reviving it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Among the featured creators taking part currently are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. All participants have created visual art, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (calculating the distances between trees), science (discussing the apple’s DNA), and history (researching the backgrounds of how different apples were introduced to England).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Each has background narratives. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see the variety and the source. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

In London, a participant’s project on disappearance will include attendees exploring a major gallery on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in modern times. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using special pens. When located, a bell will ring and a recitation will be performed to honor that individual formation.

Meanwhile, up in a northern town, a creative will be putting on a open display about our alienation from the environment, as well as hosting a community dinner, made using sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, an artist is sharing her musical project, in which local singers embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in youth creations that document their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images 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 quite unique and hopefully it will provoke a sense of responsibility from each person. Youth is pure. They have fears about the future. But let’s not make it about fear – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

A participant’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his Birds Can Fly involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is planning to represent a local symbol. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. The project commenced following he experienced several events of discrimination on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to cover events shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to place blooms at additional sites and also refresh the memorials in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the events and his memories of them. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and