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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger launched one of his final major projects. Famed for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to human struggles from peace activism to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he declared, encouraging makers and thinkers to resist the ongoing loss of species. “The mission is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Environmental Reflection

And so the environmental art day was established, a day when creatives nationwide produced pieces to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, recalls his drive for action. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “My advice was – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, Remember Nature hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in campaigns like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the environmental impact of their work. That’s why she is reviving it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Among the key participants participating now are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. Each has created visual art, shared messages, and produced installations set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), genetics (discussing the hereditary traits), and history (tracing the journeys of how distinct varieties came to the UK).

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

“Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Each has stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and hit Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the power we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see their names and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Throughout Britain

Within the city, a participant’s Book of Loss will engage visitors exploring Tate Modern on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in modern times. All formations will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a reading will be performed to honor that individual formation.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, a creative will be presenting a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as holding a communal feast, cooked from regional food. In another city, a participant is streaming her environmental performance, in which local singers undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in youth creations that document their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are powerful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Paul Harfleet’s work also connects with children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves sketching winged creatures and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. This endeavor started after he experienced multiple occurrences of prejudice on a particular day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since expanded to cover events shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The project on Remember Nature day is to plant pansies at fresh spots and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while conversing with those on the itinerant journey about the events and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and