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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last important works. Recognized for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to human struggles from peace activism to ethical eating. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he declared, inviting makers and thinkers to stand against the steady eradication of living beings. “Our task is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore territories that are inherently creative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

Thus the environmental art day was established, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “There was a profound sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. Let’s just do it.”

A Decade Later

After ten years, Remember Nature may not have incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but organizers feel its influence can still be felt in movements like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their methods. This is the reason she is reviving it to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. Among the featured creators participating now are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. Each has created visual art, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to the artist, she is working outdoors in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (calculating the gaps in the orchard), science (exploring the genetic makeup), and geography (researching the backgrounds of how various cultivars 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 releases red juice

“Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries background narratives. The historical cultivar was imported by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the environment and the influence we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

In London, Youngsook Choi’s project on disappearance will include attendees searching a major gallery on a quest to find the ice masses that have been lost in modern times. Every ice sheet will be drawn on the museum surfaces using special pens. When located, a bell will ring and a performance will be performed to honor that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be hosting a public show about our disconnection from the land, as well as hosting a shared meal, made using regional food. Further north, an artist is streaming her environmental performance, in which local singers embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Like Gallaccio, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is aiming to decorate a cultural venue in kids’ letters and drawings that express their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about optimism and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Paul Harfleet’s work also appeals to children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is intending to tackle Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. That ongoing series started after he experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the pansy 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 thoughtful, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The project on the event day is to sow flowers at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his memories of them. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and