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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his final important works. Famed for creating art that erases itself, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting human struggles from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“I call upon you for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he declared, urging artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of flora and fauna. “Our task is to make audiences aware of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

Thus the Nature Remembrance initiative was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to approve this. We should proceed.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, the initiative may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its influence can still be seen in movements like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their practices. That’s why she is relaunching it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Among the featured creators participating now are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. All participants have designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be presented on 4 November 2025.

Planting Hope

In conversation with one participant, she is on site in Kent, helping plant apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already incorporated learning about measurements (measuring out the distances between trees), biology (exploring the apple’s DNA), and history (mapping the backgrounds of how various cultivars 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 produces crimson liquid

“Several the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid. They all have stories behind them. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and landed on the scientist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the power we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see the variety and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will include attendees looking through a major gallery on a mission to find the frozen formations that have been lost in the past decade. Every ice sheet will be depicted on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a recitation will be performed to remember that specific ice mass.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, an artist will be putting on a free exhibition about our alienation from the environment, as well as holding a shared meal, cooked from regional food. Over in Newcastle, a participant is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to fill a cultural venue in youth creations that capture their dreams and worries for the future. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and it may inspire a feeling of duty from us all. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about worry – it should be about hope and making sure that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is intending to tackle Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also organizing a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. The project started after he faced three incidents of discrimination on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since expanded to cover events reported by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – 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 bad quality,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to sow flowers at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the events and his recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few since I last planted,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and