🔗 Share this article

In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate important works. Known for pioneering art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting human struggles from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a international event to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he stated, inviting makers and thinkers to stand against the steady eradication of species. “Our task is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Remember Nature

In this way Remember Nature came into being, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his later life, notes his sense of urgency. “I sensed a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I just said – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for funding or for anyone to approve this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, Remember Nature did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its legacy can still be seen in movements like cultural advocacy groups and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the eco-friendliness of their practices. This is the reason she is restaging it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Among the featured creators involved this time are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have designed posters, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to one participant, she is out in a field in Kent, cultivating apple trees that will develop into a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about maths (calculating the gaps in the orchard), biology (exploring the apple’s DNA), and geography (mapping the stories of how different apples were introduced to England).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that produces red juice

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries background narratives. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the control we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was prompting 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 Throughout Britain

In London, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will involve participants searching a major gallery on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in recent years. All formations will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a performance will be conducted to remember that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a public show about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a community dinner, cooked from regional food. Further north, a participant is broadcasting her environmental performance, in which community vocalists begin a project to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to cover a cultural venue in youth creations that capture their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Youthful expressions are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from everyone. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about optimism and making sure that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then performing as birds – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to represent a local symbol. He is also conducting a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the past twenty years. The project commenced following he endured multiple occurrences of discrimination on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and document it – the project has since expanded to include incidents reported by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is reflective, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to place blooms at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the incidents and his personal experiences. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and