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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate important works. Famed for introducing auto-destructive art, Metzger had spent a lifetime to confronting human struggles from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on 4 November 2015,” he stated, inviting cultural workers to resist the continuing disappearance of living beings. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall 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

Thus Remember Nature came into being, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who cared for Metzger in his later life, remembers his drive for action. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “My advice was – we must act now. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

Ten years later, Remember Nature hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but Joelson believes its impact can still be observed in movements like cultural advocacy groups and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how makers handle the environmental impact of their methods. For this purpose she is reviving it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Included in the key participants taking part currently are Yu-Chen Wang and other notable figures. Each has produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be revealed on 4 November 2025.

Planting Hope

When speaking to Anya Gallaccio, she is out in a field in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will create a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and half educational workshop. According to her, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), science (discussing the genetic makeup), and history (researching the backgrounds of how different apples arrived in Britain).

A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ 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 produces red juice. Each has histories attached. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more consciously engaged of the natural world and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see the variety and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

Within the city, a participant’s project on disappearance will engage visitors looking through Tate Modern on a journey to find the frozen formations that have been disappeared in recent years. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using special pens. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a recitation will be held to remember that individual formation.

At the same time, up in another location, a creative will be presenting a public show about our alienation from the environment, as well as holding a shared meal, cooked from organic, local produce. Over in Newcastle, a participant is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which local singers begin a project to use music to heal flora in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, another participant will be working with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is aiming to fill Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that capture their dreams and worries for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as grown-ups’,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have fears about the future. But let’s not make it about anxiety – it should be about hope and making sure that they see a better world.”

Tributes and Thoughts

A participant’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to tackle an iconic figure. He is also conducting a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. The project commenced following he experienced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since expanded to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

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

The intention on Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the incidents and his memories of them. “There’s been quite a few since I last planted,” he says with regret.

Progressing Optimistically

Harfleet hopes his work – and