🔗 Share this article

Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate major projects. Known for introducing art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to responding to societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, inviting cultural workers to stand against the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his final years, notes his sense of urgency. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

After ten years, the initiative hasn’t quite sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its legacy can still be observed in movements like artist-led declarations and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their methods. For this purpose she is reviving it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Included in the key participants taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have created visual art, shared messages, and produced installations set to be presented on 4 November 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and half educational workshop. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about maths (spacing the distances between trees), science (studying the genetic makeup), and geography (researching the journeys of how different apples were introduced to England).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that releases crimson liquid

“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 crimson liquid. They all have stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and landed on Isaac Newton’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see the variety and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

At the capital, a participant’s work about extinction will include attendees looking through Tate Modern on a journey to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in modern times. Every ice sheet will be depicted on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a performance will be performed to commemorate that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, a creative will be putting on a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as organizing a communal feast, prepared with sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which regional performers undertake a task to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that capture their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and it may inspire a awareness of obligation from each person. Youth is pure. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to represent a local symbol. He is also staging a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the last two decades. That ongoing series commenced following he faced several events of discrimination on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the site of each occurrence and photograph it – the project has since grown to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – 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 negative trait,” he says.

The plan on 4 November is to place blooms at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the events and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few since I last planted,” he says with regret.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and