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Attendees to the renowned gallery are used to unexpected displays in its vast Turbine Hall. They have basked under an artificial sun, descended down helter skelters, and witnessed automated jellyfish floating through the air. But this marks the first time they will be immersing themselves in the complex nose cavities of a reindeer. The newest artistic project for this immense space—developed by Native Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes visitors into a maze-like structure inspired by the expanded interior of a reindeer's nose passages. Inside, they can meander around or unwind on pelts, listening on earphones to tribal seniors sharing tales and knowledge.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

What's the focus on the nose? It may seem whimsical, but the artwork honors a little-known scientific wonder: researchers have found that in under a second, the reindeer's nose can raise the temperature of the surrounding air it takes in by 80°C, allowing the animal to endure in inhospitable Arctic climates. Scaling the nose to larger than human size, Sara says, "generates a perception of smallness that you as a human being are not in control over nature." She is a former reporter, writer for kids, and environmental activist, who is from a reindeer-herding family in the far north of Norway. "Perhaps that generates the possibility to shift your outlook or trigger some humility," she adds.

A Celebration to Sámi Culture

The labyrinthine installation is among various features in Sara's engaging commission celebrating the traditions, science, and beliefs of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Partially migratory, the Sámi number roughly 100,000 people spread across the Norwegian north, Finland, Sweden, and the Kola region (an region they call Sápmi). They've endured persecution, cultural suppression, and eradication of their dialect by all four nations. By focusing on the reindeer, an creature at the core of the Sámi belief system and founding narrative, the work also draws attention to the people's struggles connected to the climate crisis, property rights, and external control.

Metaphor in Materials

Along the lengthy access ramp, there's a towering, 26-metre structure of pelts entangled by electrical wires. It represents a symbol for the governance and financial structures restricting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part celestial ladder, this component of the exhibit, called Goavve-, points to the Sámi word for an harsh environmental condition, whereby dense layers of ice develop as changing conditions thaw and refreeze the snow, encasing the reindeers' primary winter food, lichen. This phenomenon is a result of global heating, which is happening up to four times faster in the Far North than elsewhere.

A few years back, I visited Sara in a remote town during a icy season and accompanied Sámi herders on their snowmobiles in biting cold as they hauled carts of animal nutrition on to the wind-scoured tundra to provide through labor. The reindeer surrounded round us, scratching the slippery ground in vain for lichen-covered pieces. This expensive and laborious procedure is having a significant influence on herding practices—and on the animals' natural survival. However the other option is malnutrition. As these icy periods become frequent, reindeer are perishing—a number from starvation, others suffocating after sinking in lakes and rivers through prematurely melting ice. To some extent, the art is a memorial to them. "With the layering of elements, in a way I'm introducing the goavvi to London," says Sara.

Opposing Belief Systems

The sculpture also highlights the sharp contrast between the western understanding of electricity as a commodity to be exploited for economic benefit and livelihood and the Sámi outlook of life force as an inherent power in animals, humans, and land. Tate Modern's legacy as a coal and oil power station is linked with this, as is what the Sámi view as eco-imperialism by regional governments. While attempting to be exemplars for clean sources, Scandinavian countries have locked horns with the Sámi over the construction of turbine fields, water power facilities, and digging operations on their native soil; the Sámi assert their human rights, ways of life, and way of life are threatened. "It's challenging being such a limited population to stand your ground when the justifications are grounded in environmental protection," Sara comments. "Extractivism has appropriated the language of environmentalism, but yet it's just aiming to find better ways to maintain habits of consumption."

Family Conflicts

She and her kin have themselves clashed with the state authorities over its tightening policies on animal husbandry. Previously, Sara's brother embarked on a set of finally failed legal cases over the forced culling of his herd, supposedly to stop excessive feeding. To back him, Sara developed a extended collection of creations called Pile O'Sápmi featuring a massive curtain of 400 reindeer skulls, which was exhibited at the the show Documenta 14 and later purchased by the public gallery, where it is displayed in the entryway.

Art as Advocacy

For many Sámi, creative work seems the sole realm in which they can be understood by people of other nations. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|