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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate important works. Famed for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. Via a concise video message, he requested support for a international event to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on the fourth of November, 2015,” he declared, inviting cultural workers to resist the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “Our task is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who cared for 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 urged him – we must act now. No need to pause for funding or for anyone to authorize this. Take action immediately.”

A Decade Later

Ten years later, the initiative did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its impact can still be felt in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the environmental impact of their methods. For this purpose she is relaunching it to mark its decade milestone. Among the 18 lead artists participating now are Cornelia Parker 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 working outdoors in the countryside, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about mathematics (calculating the planting intervals), genetics (exploring the apple’s DNA), and history (researching the journeys of how distinct varieties arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that produces red juice

“Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Duck’s Bill,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces red juice. They all have histories attached. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck the physicist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of the environment and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was urging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see the variety and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

At the capital, one artist’s Book of Loss will involve participants searching a major gallery on a mission to find the ice masses that have been vanished in modern times. All formations will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. When located, a chime will sound and a performance will be conducted to commemorate that individual formation.

Meanwhile, up in another location, an artist will be hosting a open display about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a communal feast, made using organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, Uta Kögelsberger is sharing her musical project, in which regional performers undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be engaging schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to cover an art space in children’s artwork that document their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Kids’ art are powerful because they’re not as inhibited as mature perspectives,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can stimulate a sense of responsibility from us all. Youth is pure. They have fears about the future. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about hope and us ensuring that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also connects with children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is intending to represent an iconic figure. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his long-term work over the past twenty years. This endeavor began when he endured multiple occurrences of discrimination on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the site of each occurrence and record it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences shared by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – but also because its origin is the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The project on 4 November is to sow flowers at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the guided walk about the incidents and his memories of them. “There’s been quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and