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In 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate major projects. Recognized for introducing art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to societal issues from peace activism to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he made a plea for a international event to remember nature.

“This is my appeal for your involvement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he declared, urging makers and thinkers to oppose the continuing disappearance of flora and fauna. “The mission 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 Remember Nature

Thus Remember Nature was born, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the escalating planetary emergency. An organizer, who worked closely with Metzger in his last days, recalls his sense of urgency. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the close of his days,” she says. “I just said – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. Let’s just do it.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, Remember Nature may not have incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but Joelson believes its impact can still be observed in initiatives like artist-led declarations and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how makers handle the eco-friendliness of their methods. That’s why she is reviving it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Included in the 18 lead artists involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and Anya Gallaccio. Each has created visual art, shared messages, and created artworks set to be presented on November 4, 2025.

Cultivating Awareness

Interviewing the artist, she is out in a field in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a coiled garden. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and half educational workshop. She describes, the planning and planting sessions have already involved learning about maths (spacing the planting intervals), genetics (discussing the genetic makeup), and history (researching the journeys of how different apples were introduced to England).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got funny names such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that produces scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries background narratives. The historical cultivar was brought over by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and hit the scientist’s head.”

She hoped the children to be more thoughtfully connected of the natural world and the power we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you find in a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, next time they were out, to read the label and see what they’re called and their origin. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

Within the city, one artist’s project on disappearance will engage visitors searching an art institution on a journey to find the ice masses that have been vanished in recent years. All formations will be drawn on the museum surfaces using special pens. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a recitation will be conducted to remember that specific ice mass.

Elsewhere, up in a northern town, an artist will be presenting a open display about our alienation from the environment, as well as organizing a community dinner, prepared with regional food. Over in Newcastle, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which local singers undertake a task to sing plants back to health in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Similar to other artists, another participant will be engaging schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to cover an art space in kids’ letters and drawings that express their aspirations and concerns for the years ahead. “Children’s words and images are compelling because they’re not as inhibited as grown-ups’,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something distinctive and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about worry – it should be about positivity 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 feathered initiative involves sketching winged creatures and then embodying them – and for Remember Nature day 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 long-term work over the past twenty years. The project commenced following he faced several events of discrimination on a one occasion. In response, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph 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.”

Harfleet chose the bloom not just for the clear connection – it has long been a derogatory label – 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 bad quality,” he says.

The plan on the event day is to plant pansies at additional sites and also renew the tributes in places he has previously memorialised, all the while talking to those on the guided walk about the events and his recollections. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and