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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last major projects. Famed for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing societal issues from peace activism to ethical eating. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, urging makers and thinkers to stand against the continuing disappearance of living beings. “Our responsibility is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

And so Remember Nature was born, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, remembers his sense of urgency. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I just said – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the project did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their methods. For this purpose she is restaging it to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. Among the 18 lead artists involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and prominent artists. All participants have designed posters, shared messages, and produced installations set to be presented on 4 November 2025.

Planting Hope

When speaking to one participant, she is out in a field in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will create a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and part learning experience. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about mathematics (measuring out the distances between trees), science (studying the hereditary traits), and origins (researching the journeys of how different apples arrived in Britain).

Many of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid. Each has histories attached. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see their names and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

At the capital, a participant’s project on disappearance will engage visitors exploring a major gallery on a journey to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in the past decade. Each glacier will be drawn on the exhibition spaces using invisible ink. When located, a alert will occur and a reading will be conducted to honor that individual formation.

At the same time, up in another location, a creative will be hosting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as holding a communal feast, made using regional food. Further north, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her environmental performance, in which local singers begin a project to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to fill an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that capture their aspirations and concerns for the tomorrow. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can inspire a feeling of duty from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have anxieties about what’s next. But let’s not make it about anxiety – it should be about optimism and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is planning to address a local symbol. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. That ongoing series started after he faced several events of discrimination on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and document it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the direct association – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It became associated with a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The intention on 4 November is to plant pansies at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the occurrences and his recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and