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In 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate important works. Recognized for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to confronting human struggles from peace activism to ethical eating. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he declared, inviting cultural workers to oppose the ongoing loss of species. “The mission is to remind people of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

And so Remember Nature was born, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, remembers his sense of urgency. “He had a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the initiative may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but Joelson believes its influence can still be felt in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their work. That’s why she is relaunching it to mark its decade milestone. Included in the featured creators taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. They have all produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be presented on 4 November 2025.

Planting Hope

Interviewing Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in the countryside, cultivating apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. She describes, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about mathematics (calculating the distances between trees), genetics (studying the hereditary traits), and origins (mapping the stories of how different apples came to the UK).

Several the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that produces crimson liquid

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. Each has histories attached. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the power we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to look on the bag and see what they’re called and their origin. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

In London, a participant’s project on disappearance will include attendees looking through an art institution on a journey to find the ice masses that have been lost in the past decade. All formations will be depicted on the exhibition spaces using ultraviolet markers. When located, a alert will occur and a performance will be conducted to honor that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a open display about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using regional food. In another city, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which local singers embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are impactful because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and perhaps it can provoke a awareness of obligation from each person. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about positivity and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then embodying them – and for the event he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. That ongoing series commenced following he endured several events of discrimination on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since grown to cover events shared by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a ephemeral 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. “It was linked to a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on Remember Nature day is to plant pansies at fresh spots and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the incidents and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and