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Back in 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate major projects. Recognized for introducing self-destructive creations, Metzger had spent a lifetime to addressing human struggles from peace activism to plant-based living. Through a short video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to remember nature.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your involvement in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, inviting cultural workers to stand against the continuing disappearance of species. “Our task is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are inherently creative.”

The Creation of Nature Remembrance

In this way the Nature Remembrance initiative came into being, a day when creatives nationwide produced pieces to the ongoing environmental crisis. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “He had a great sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for funding or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

A decade on, the project did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its legacy can still be seen in initiatives like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how creatives consider the eco-friendliness of their practices. This is the reason she is reviving it to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. Among the 18 lead artists taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. All participants have created visual art, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is on site in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and half educational workshop. As she explains, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about measurements (calculating the gaps in the orchard), biology (studying the hereditary traits), and geography (mapping the stories of how various cultivars came to the UK).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases crimson liquid

“A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. They all have stories behind them. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more consciously engaged of nature and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was urging them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see the variety and the source. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Across the Country

In London, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will engage visitors exploring Tate Modern on a quest to find the seven major glaciers that have been vanished in the past decade. All formations will be illustrated on the gallery’s windows and walls using invisible ink. Whenever one is found, a bell will ring and a recitation will be held to commemorate that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in another location, an artist will be presenting a open display about our alienation from the environment, as well as holding a communal feast, cooked from sustainable ingredients. Further north, Uta Kögelsberger is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which local singers undertake a task to sing plants back to health in a green space.

Youth Perspectives

Following this approach, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to fill a cultural venue in youth creations that capture their dreams and worries for the future. “Kids’ art are powerful because they’re not as restricted as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “What children have to offer to the world is something distinctive and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from us all. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his feathered initiative involves sketching winged creatures and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is aiming to address Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. This endeavor started after he experienced several events of homophobic abuse on a single day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and document it – the project has since grown to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

Harfleet chose the flower not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – 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 negative trait,” he says.

The project on 4 November is to plant pansies at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his memories of them. “I’ve recorded quite a few since I last planted,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and