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During 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger launched one of his last significant endeavors. Famed for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to global challenges from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a international event to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your participation in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he declared, urging artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of species. “Our task is to remind people of the diversity and intricacy in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

And so the environmental art day was born, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain created responses to the escalating planetary emergency. One of the curators, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, notes his drive for action. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for financial support or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, the project may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its legacy can still be observed in initiatives like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their practices. This is the reason she is relaunching it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Among the featured creators taking part currently are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. They have all produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and produced installations set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to the artist, she is on site in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will create a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already included learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), genetics (studying the genetic makeup), and history (mapping the stories of how various cultivars were introduced to England).

Several the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that produces red juice. Each has background narratives. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that dropped off a tree and hit Isaac Newton’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of nature and the influence we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to look on the bag and see their names and the source. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Nationwide

At the capital, one artist’s Book of Loss will include attendees searching an art institution on a journey to find the ice masses that have been lost in the past decade. All formations will be drawn on the museum surfaces using special pens. When located, a alert will occur and a performance will be conducted to remember that particular glacier.

At the same time, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be hosting a public show about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a shared meal, prepared with regional food. Further north, an artist is sharing her environmental performance, in which regional performers undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a green space.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is planning to cover Cambridge’s Kettle’s Yard in youth creations that document their hopes and fears for the years ahead. “Youthful expressions are compelling because they’re not as inhibited as adults’,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something distinctive and it may inspire a sense of responsibility from us all. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But it isn’t meant to be about anxiety – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they see a better world.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Paul Harfleet’s work also resonates for children. With a background in performance, his avian project involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for Remember Nature day he is planning to address an iconic figure. He is also staging a itinerant journey of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. This endeavor commenced following he faced multiple occurrences of homophobic abuse on a single day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since expanded to include incidents experienced by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the flower 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 plan on the event day is to sow flowers at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has honored before, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the events and his recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

Harfleet hopes his work – and