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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger launched one of his last major projects. Recognized for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to confronting societal issues from anti-nuclear advocacy to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, inviting artists and creatives to stand against the continuing disappearance of species. “The mission is to make audiences aware of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Inception of Nature Remembrance

And so the Nature Remembrance initiative was established, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his last days, recalls his feeling of immediacy. “I sensed a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to authorize this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

After ten years, Remember Nature may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its impact can still be observed in movements like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their methods. For this purpose she is relaunching it to celebrate its decade milestone. Included in the featured creators involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. All participants have designed posters, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

When speaking to one participant, she is out in a field in the countryside, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and half educational workshop. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already involved learning about maths (spacing the distances between trees), genetics (studying the apple’s DNA), and origins (mapping the journeys of how distinct varieties 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 ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid. They all have histories attached. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more actively aware of the natural world 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, on their next shopping trip, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will include attendees searching an art institution on a journey to find the seven major glaciers that have been disappeared in modern times. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using special pens. Each discovery, a chime will sound and a reading will be conducted to commemorate that individual formation.

At the same time, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a communal feast, made using regional food. Over in Newcastle, Uta Kögelsberger is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which community vocalists begin a project to sing plants back to health in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Youth Perspectives

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be engaging schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to cover Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that express their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Youthful expressions are powerful because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her public appeal. “Young people’s input to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will provoke a awareness of obligation from each person. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and making sure that they get a future.”

Memorials and Memory

Another artist’s work also connects with children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is aiming to tackle a local symbol. He is also staging a walking tour of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his ongoing series over the past twenty years. This endeavor commenced following he experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since expanded to incorporate experiences shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Apparently wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its etymology comes 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 sow flowers at new locations and also replant flowers in places he has previously memorialised, all the while conversing with those on the itinerant journey about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

The artist wishes his work – and