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Back in 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger embarked on one of his ultimate major projects. Known for introducing art that erases itself, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to societal issues from nuclear disarmament to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he issued a call for a global day of action to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your participation in this international summons for a day of action to commemorate our planet on 4 November 2015,” he stated, urging cultural workers to resist the continuing disappearance of living beings. “Our task is to make audiences aware of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into realms that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Inception of Environmental Reflection

In this way Remember Nature came into being, a day when cultural practitioners throughout Britain produced pieces to the unfolding climate catastrophe. Jo Joelson, who cared for Metzger in his later life, notes his feeling of immediacy. “There was a strong sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – don’t delay. Let’s not wait for financial support or for anyone to green light this. We should proceed.”

After Ten Years

After ten years, the project did not triggered the broad uprising across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its impact can still be felt in campaigns like cultural advocacy groups and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their practices. This is the reason she is relaunching it to mark its decade milestone. Included in the featured creators participating now are A Man Called Adam and prominent artists. All participants have produced imagery, shared messages, and created artworks set to be revealed on November 4, 2025.

Planting Hope

When speaking to the artist, she is out in a field in a rural area, helping plant apple trees that will develop into a spiral-shaped orchard. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is somewhat artistic and half educational workshop. According to her, the design and cultivation sessions have already included learning about measurements (spacing the distances between trees), genetics (discussing the hereditary traits), and geography (researching the journeys of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarcolored sap

“Many of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties,” she explains. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid. They all have stories behind them. The historical cultivar was brought over by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and struck the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of the natural world and the control we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was encouraging them, on their next shopping trip, to read the label and see what they’re called and their origin. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Artistic Responses Nationwide

Within the city, a participant’s work about extinction will engage visitors exploring an art institution on a journey to find the seven major glaciers that have been vanished in recent years. All formations will be illustrated on the museum surfaces using invisible ink. Each discovery, a alert will occur and a reading will be performed to commemorate that individual formation.

Meanwhile, up in Barrow-in-Furness, Maddi Nicholson will be hosting a open display about our separation from nature, as well as holding a communal feast, prepared with sustainable ingredients. Over in Newcastle, a participant is streaming her musical project, in which regional performers embark on a mission to perform for vegetation in Newcastle’s Jesmond Dene.

Young Insights

Similar to other artists, Cornelia Parker will be working with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is planning to fill an art space in youth creations that express their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as restricted as adults’,” she says in her recorded message. “Young people’s input to the world is something truly special and hopefully it will stimulate a feeling of duty from everyone. Kids are unbiased. They have concerns for tomorrow. But let’s not make it about worry – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

A participant’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his Birds Can Fly involves drawing birds and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is aiming to tackle Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also organizing a guided walk of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his Pansy Project over the past twenty years. The project started after he endured three incidents of prejudice on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the location of every incident and record it – the project has since grown to incorporate experiences shared by other people across the world. “I place the plants there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly birds consume them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

Harfleet chose the pansy not just for the direct association – it has long been a slur – but also because its etymology comes from 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 4 November is to plant pansies at new locations and also renew the tributes in places he has marked earlier, all the while conversing with those on the walking tour about the events and his personal experiences. “There’s been quite a few following earlier installations,” he says with regret.

Progressing Optimistically

The artist wishes his work – and