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During 2015, artist and activist Gustav Metzger initiated one of his ultimate major projects. Famed for creating auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing human struggles from peace activism to vegetarianism. Via a concise video message, he made a plea for a international event to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your engagement in this worldwide call for a day of action to reflect on the environment on November 4th, 2015,” he announced, inviting cultural workers to stand against the continuing disappearance of living beings. “The mission is to make audiences aware of the richness and complexity in nature … and by doing so the arts will venture into domains that are fundamentally innovative.”

The Birth of Environmental Reflection

Thus the environmental art day was established, a day when creatives nationwide created responses to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who cared for Metzger in his last days, remembers his feeling of immediacy. “There was a great sense of urgency for him at the final chapter,” she says. “I urged him – let’s not mess around. We shouldn’t hold back for financial support or for anyone to authorize this. Take action immediately.”

Ten Years On

A decade on, the initiative did not incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had envisioned, but supporters think its influence can still be seen in initiatives like artist-led declarations and environmental protests, as well as in how creatives consider the sustainability of their work. For this purpose she is reviving it to commemorate its decade milestone. Included in the featured creators involved this time are Yu-Chen Wang and Anya Gallaccio. All participants have produced imagery, recorded calls to action, and developed pieces set to be unveiled on 4 November 2025.

Sowing Change

When speaking to the artist, she is out in a field in the countryside, helping plant apple trees that will grow to form a circular grove. Working with schoolchildren, her project is half artwork and somewhat instructive. According to her, the preparation and sowing sessions have already incorporated learning about mathematics (calculating the gaps in the orchard), genetics (discussing the genetic makeup), and origins (researching the backgrounds of how various cultivars arrived in Britain).

Several the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ red juice

“A lot of the apples were picked because they’ve got humorous titles such as the Bloody Butcher,” says Gallaccio. “We have one apple that ‘bleeds’ crimson liquid. Every one carries background narratives. The decio apple was imported by the Romans. The Kentish variety is the apple that dropped off a tree and landed on the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of the environment and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to check the packaging and see their names and where they were grown. Perhaps it indicates Kent!”

Cultural Projects Across the Country

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will include attendees exploring Tate Modern on a journey to find the ice masses that have been lost in recent years. All formations will be depicted on the exhibition spaces using special pens. When located, a bell will ring and a recitation will be conducted to commemorate that particular glacier.

Meanwhile, up in another location, a creative will be presenting a free exhibition about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a communal feast, cooked from organic, local produce. In another city, an artist is streaming her Some Kind of Love / Forest Choir, in which local singers begin a project to sing plants back to health in a local park.

Children’s Voices

Following this approach, another participant will be collaborating with schoolchildren – on the scheduled date she is hoping to fill an art space in children’s artwork that express their hopes and fears for the future. “Kids’ art are compelling because they’re not as trammelled as adults’,” she says in her call to action video. “The contributions of youth to the world is something quite unique and it may inspire a sense of responsibility from everyone. Youth is pure. They have concerns for tomorrow. But this shouldn’t be about fear – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Remembrance and Reflection

Another artist’s work also appeals to children. As a former drag queen, his avian project involves illustrating avians and then dressing up as them – and for the event he is intending to tackle an iconic figure. He is also staging a walking tour of the city, exploring locations that have been part of his long-term work over the last two decades. The project began when he endured three incidents of discrimination on a one occasion. To counter this, Harfleet decided to sow a flower at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since spiralled to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “I leave the pansies there but they fade quickly,” says Harfleet. “It seems birds consume them, so they’re a short-lived memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a derogatory label – 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 plant pansies at new locations and also refresh the memorials in places he has honored before, all the while discussing with those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his recollections. “There’s been quite a few after my previous work,” he says sadly.

Moving Forward with Hope

Harfleet hopes his work – and