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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate important works. Known for creating self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to confronting human struggles from anti-nuclear advocacy to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your involvement in this international summons for a day of action to remember nature on 4 November 2015,” he declared, urging artists and creatives to stand against the steady eradication of living beings. “Our task is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Nature Remembrance

And so the environmental art day was born, a day when artists across the country created responses to the unfolding climate catastrophe. An organizer, who cared for Metzger in his final years, notes his drive for action. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

A Decade Later

A decade on, the initiative may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but organizers feel its influence 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 work. For this purpose she is relaunching it to celebrate its ten-year mark. Among the featured creators participating now are Cornelia Parker and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and created artworks set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to the artist, she is working outdoors in Kent, assisting with planting apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about mathematics (spacing the planting intervals), science (exploring the genetic makeup), and geography (mapping the journeys of how different apples arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that produces red juice

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases scarlet-colored sap. They all have histories attached. The decio apple was introduced by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see the variety and the source. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will involve participants looking through Tate Modern on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been vanished in recent years. All formations will be drawn on the gallery’s windows and walls using ultraviolet markers. Whenever one is found, a chime will sound and a reading will be held to commemorate that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as holding a communal feast, prepared with sustainable ingredients. Further north, Uta Kögelsberger is sharing her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which regional performers embark on a mission to sing plants back to health in a green space.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be engaging schoolchildren – on the actual event she is hoping to decorate Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in children’s artwork that express their aspirations and concerns for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are impactful because they’re not as trammelled as mature perspectives,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and it may stimulate a feeling of duty from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have fears about the future. But this shouldn’t be about worry – it should be about positivity and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for Remember Nature day he is intending to tackle an iconic figure. He is also staging a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his ongoing series over the recent decades. That ongoing series began when he faced multiple occurrences of prejudice on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the bloom not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its origin is 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 Remember Nature day is to sow flowers at additional sites and also refresh the memorials in places he has honored before, all the while conversing with those on the itinerant journey about the incidents and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Advancing Positively

The artist wishes his work – and