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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his final major projects. Famed for introducing self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to global challenges from peace activism to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he stated, encouraging cultural workers to stand against the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so art will enter territories that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

In this way Remember Nature was born, a day when creatives nationwide produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who cared for Metzger in his final years, notes his feeling of immediacy. “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 approve this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the initiative did not sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its impact can still be felt in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their methods. That’s why she is reviving it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Among the 18 lead artists participating now are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. All participants have designed posters, made video appeals, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to the artist, she is out in a field in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), science (exploring the apple’s DNA), and history (tracing the journeys of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names 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 introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that descended from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the power we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

In London, a participant’s Book of Loss will involve participants looking through Tate Modern on a journey to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in modern times. All formations will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a reading will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in another location, an artist will be putting on a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a community dinner, prepared with regional food. In another city, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists begin a project to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to fill an art space in children’s artwork that express their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and it may inspire a sense of responsibility from everyone. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about positivity and making sure that they see a better world.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also organizing a itinerant journey of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. That ongoing series started after he experienced multiple occurrences of prejudice on a particular day. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and record it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the flower 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. “People connected it with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The project on 4 November is to plant pansies at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the incidents and his memories of them. “We’ve seen quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Progressing Optimistically

He desires his work – and