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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate major projects. Recognized for introducing self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to confronting societal issues from peace activism to vegetarianism. In a brief video message, he made a plea for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your involvement in this global appeal for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he declared, urging artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of living beings. “Our responsibility is to remind people of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Birth of Remember Nature

And so the environmental art day came into being, a day when artists across the country produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, remembers his sense of urgency. “I sensed a profound sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “My advice was – don’t delay. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to authorize this. We should proceed.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the project did not sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but organizers feel its legacy can still be observed in movements like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the environmental impact of their work. For this purpose she is restaging it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Part of the 18 lead artists participating now are Cornelia Parker and other notable figures. They have all produced imagery, shared messages, and created artworks set to be presented on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to one participant, she is working outdoors in the countryside, cultivating apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already involved learning about maths (calculating the planting intervals), biology (exploring the apple’s DNA), and geography (researching the backgrounds of how distinct varieties were introduced to England).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the other unusual varieties,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. They all have histories attached. The ancient variety 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 the environment and the control we have over it. “For a lot of them, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was urging them, on their next shopping trip, to look on the bag and see the variety and their origin. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Creative Initiatives Nationwide

Within the city, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will engage visitors looking through an art institution on a quest to find the frozen formations that have been lost in recent years. All formations will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. Each discovery, a bell will ring and a reading will be performed to commemorate that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be presenting a free exhibition about our disconnection from the land, as well as organizing a shared meal, cooked from organic, local produce. In another city, a participant is sharing her musical project, in which local singers begin a project to perform for vegetation in a green space.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is planning to cover a cultural venue in youth creations that capture their dreams and worries for the future. “Children’s words and images are impactful because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something distinctive and perhaps it can stimulate a feeling of duty from us all. Children are innocent. They have anxieties about what’s next. But it isn’t meant to be about worry – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

A participant’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves sketching winged creatures and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is intending to represent an iconic figure. He is also staging a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the recent decades. The project commenced following he experienced multiple occurrences of prejudice on a particular day. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and photograph it – the project has since expanded to cover events shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly pigeons like to eat them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

Harfleet chose the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a bad quality,” he says.

The intention on the event day is to place blooms at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has honored before, all the while conversing with those on the guided walk about the incidents and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few following earlier installations,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and