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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger launched one of his ultimate important works. Famed for pioneering auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to responding to human struggles from nuclear disarmament to plant-based living. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a worldwide initiative to celebrate the natural world.

“I, Gustav Metzger, am asking for your engagement in this global appeal for a day of action to reflect on the environment on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, inviting artists and creatives to stand against the ongoing loss of flora and fauna. “The mission is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into territories that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Creation of Environmental Reflection

And so the environmental art day was established, 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 final years, recalls his sense of urgency. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “My advice was – let’s not mess around. Let’s not wait for sponsorship or for anyone to approve this. Take action immediately.”

After Ten Years

Ten years later, the project may not have sparked the widespread change across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but supporters think its impact can still be observed in initiatives like Culture Declares and Extinction Rebellion, as well as in how artists approach the sustainability of their practices. For this purpose she is relaunching it to commemorate its ten-year mark. Included in the 18 lead artists participating now are Cornelia Parker and prominent artists. They have all created visual art, shared messages, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

In conversation with one participant, she is out in a field in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will develop into a circular grove. Engaging schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. As she explains, the preparation and sowing sessions have already included learning about maths (measuring out the gaps in the orchard), biology (studying the hereditary traits), and geography (tracing the stories of how different apples came to the UK).

Many of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Duck’s Bill. We have one apple that produces crimson liquid

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ scarlet-colored sap. Every one carries histories attached. The ancient variety was imported by the Romans. The Flower of Kent is the apple that fell from a tree and struck the scientist’s head.”

Gallaccio wanted the children to be more thoughtfully connected of nature and the influence we have over it. “To many of them, apples were just things you get at a supermarket, so I was prompting them, next time they were out, to check the packaging and see what they’re called and where they were grown. Hopefully it says Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

Within the city, one artist’s work about extinction will include attendees searching a major gallery on a journey to find the seven major glaciers that have been lost in recent years. Each glacier will be depicted on the exhibition spaces using special pens. Whenever one is found, a alert will occur and a performance will be held to commemorate that specific ice mass.

At the same time, up in another location, Maddi Nicholson will be putting on a open display about our separation from nature, as well as organizing a shared meal, prepared with sustainable ingredients. In another city, Uta Kögelsberger is broadcasting her environmental performance, in which local singers undertake a task to sing plants back to health in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Like Gallaccio, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the actual event she is planning to fill an art space in children’s artwork that capture their dreams and worries for the tomorrow. “Kids’ art 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 quite unique and hopefully it will inspire a awareness of obligation from everyone. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about optimism and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. Drawing on past experience, his Birds Can Fly involves illustrating avians and then embodying them – and for the initiative he is intending to address a local symbol. He is also staging a guided walk of the city, stopping at places that have been part of his Pansy Project over the last two decades. This endeavor began when he endured three incidents of homophobic abuse on a single day. In response, Harfleet decided to plant a pansy at the site of each occurrence and record it – the project has since spiralled to incorporate experiences experienced by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they are temporary,” says Harfleet. “It seems wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the clear connection – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its name derives from the French verb, penser, to think. “It was linked to a man who is contemplative, and that, of course, is a negative trait,” he says.

The intention on Remember Nature day is to place blooms at fresh spots and also replant flowers in places he has honored before, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the incidents and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Advancing Positively

The artist wishes his work – and