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In 2015, creative and campaigner Gustav Metzger initiated one of his last major projects. Recognized for pioneering self-destructive creations, Metzger had dedicated his life to responding to global challenges from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. In a brief video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to celebrate the natural world.

“This is my appeal for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, urging artists and creatives to oppose the steady eradication of living beings. “Our responsibility is to help the public recall of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so creativity will explore realms that are naturally imaginative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

Thus the environmental art day came into being, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the unfolding climate catastrophe. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his later life, recalls his feeling of immediacy. “He had a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – we must act now. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to green light this. Let’s just do it.”

A Decade Later

After ten years, Remember Nature may not have triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had dreamed of, but supporters think its legacy can still be seen in movements like Culture Declares and environmental protests, as well as in how makers handle the sustainability of their work. This is the reason she is relaunching it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Among the key participants participating now are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. All participants have designed posters, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

When speaking to one participant, she is on site in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a coiled garden. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and part learning experience. As she explains, the design and cultivation sessions have already involved learning about measurements (measuring out the planting intervals), science (exploring the hereditary traits), and history (researching the stories of how different apples arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were picked because they’ve got funny names such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that releases scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that produces crimson liquid. Every one carries histories attached. The historical cultivar was introduced by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that descended from a tree and landed on 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 urging them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see the variety and the source. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Across the Country

Within the city, a participant’s Book of Loss will include attendees looking through a major gallery on a mission to find the seven major glaciers that have been vanished in modern times. Every ice sheet will be illustrated on the exhibition spaces using invisible ink. When located, a chime will sound and a reading will be conducted to commemorate that individual formation.

Elsewhere, up in a northern town, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a communal feast, prepared with sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, an artist is streaming her musical project, in which local singers undertake a task to use music to heal flora in a local park.

Youth Perspectives

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to cover a cultural venue in children’s artwork that express their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Kids’ art are powerful because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “What children have to offer to the world is something quite unique and hopefully it will provoke a sense of responsibility from each person. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about fear – it should be about optimism and us ensuring that they have a tomorrow.”

Memorials and Memory

A participant’s work also resonates for children. As a former drag queen, his feathered initiative involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for the initiative he is intending to tackle Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also organizing a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his Pansy Project over the past twenty years. The project started after he faced several events of discrimination on a particular day. To counter this, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the spot where it happened and record it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a very temporary memorial.”

The artist selected the flower not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – 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 place blooms at additional sites and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his recollections. “We’ve seen quite a few following earlier installations,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

The artist wishes his work – and