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Attendees to the renowned gallery are used to unusual experiences in its expansive Turbine Hall. They have sunbathed under an man-made sun, descended down helter skelters, and witnessed automated sea creatures hovering through the air. But this marks the initial time they will be venturing themselves in the detailed nose chambers of a reindeer. The newest artistic project for this huge space—created by Indigenous Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes patrons into a winding structure inspired by the expanded interior of a reindeer's nose passages. Once inside, they can stroll around or unwind on skins, listening on headphones to community leaders sharing tales and wisdom.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

Why choose the nasal structure? It may sound quirky, but the installation honors a little-known scientific wonder: experts have discovered that in less than one second, the reindeer's nose can raise the temperature of the surrounding air it inhales by 80°C, allowing the creature to survive in inhospitable Arctic climates. Expanding the nose to larger than human size, Sara explains, "creates a sense of insignificance that you as a human being are not dominant over nature." She is a former journalist, young adult author, and land defender, who comes from a pastoral family in the far north of Norway. "Perhaps that creates the possibility to shift your perspective or evoke some humbleness," she continues.

A Tribute to Sámi Culture

The winding installation is one of several elements in Sara's immersive exhibition honoring the traditions, knowledge, and beliefs of the Sámi, Europe's only Indigenous people. Traditionally mobile, the Sámi total approximately 100,000 people ranged across the Norwegian north, Finland, the Swedish Lapland, and Russia's Kola Peninsula (an region they call Sápmi). They have experienced persecution, cultural suppression, and repression of their tongue by all four states. With an emphasis on the reindeer, an animal at the center of the Sámi cosmology and founding narrative, the work also highlights the people's challenges connected to the environmental emergency, land dispossession, and imperialism.

Meaning in Components

On the lengthy entrance incline, there's a looming, 26-meter formation of reindeer hides ensnared by utility lines. It serves as a symbol for the societal frameworks restricting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part spiritual ascent, this section of the artwork, titled Goavve-, refers to the Sámi word for an harsh environmental condition, wherein thick coatings of ice develop as varying conditions thaw and solidify again the snow, trapping the reindeers' primary winter nourishment, lichen. This phenomenon is a outcome of planetary warming, which is occurring up to much more rapidly in the Arctic than elsewhere.

Previously, I met with Sara in the Norwegian far north during a goavvi winter and joined Sámi pastoralists on their motorized sleds in freezing temperatures as they transported containers of food pellets on to the exposed frozen landscape to distribute by hand. The herd crowded round us, scratching the slippery ground in vain for mossy morsels. This costly and laborious procedure is having a significant impact on animal rearing—and on the animals' natural survival. Yet the other option is starvation. As these icy periods become frequent, reindeer are perishing—some from hunger, others submerging after plunging into water bodies through thinning ice sheets. To some extent, the art is a memorial to them. "With the layering of components, in a way I'm transporting the goavvi to London," says Sara.

Opposing Belief Systems

The installation also highlights the clear divergence between the western interpretation of power as a resource to be harnessed for gain and survival and the Sámi philosophy of energy as an natural essence in creatures, individuals, and the environment. Tate Modern's legacy as a industrial facility is tied up in this, as is what the Sámi view as eco-imperialism by regional governments. As they strive to be exemplars for clean sources, Scandinavian countries have locked horns with the Sámi over the development of turbine fields, hydroelectric dams, and extraction sites on their native soil; the Sámi contend their human rights, ways of life, and way of life are at risk. "It's hard being such a small minority to defend yourself when the justifications are grounded in saving the world," Sara comments. "Mining practices has co-opted the rhetoric of ecology, but yet it's just attempting to find alternative ways to continue habits of use."

Individual Struggles

Sara and her family have personally disagreed with the state authorities over its tightening policies on herding. Previously, Sara's brother undertook a set of unsuccessful lawsuits over the mandatory slaughter of his herd, supposedly to stop vegetation depletion. To back him, Sara produced a four-year set of creations named Pile O'Sápmi featuring a massive drape of 400 cranial remains, which was exhibited at the 2017's art exhibition Documenta 14 and later purchased by the National Museum of Oslo, where it is displayed in the lobby.

Art as Advocacy

For many Sámi, creative work is the only sphere in which they can be heard by people of other nations. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|