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Attendees to the renowned gallery are familiar to unexpected displays in its expansive Turbine Hall. They've relaxed under an man-made sun, descended down spiral slides, and seen robotic jellyfish drifting through the air. Yet this marks the first time they will be engaging themselves in the complex nasal cavities of a reindeer. The latest artist commission for this cavernous space—developed by Native Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes gallerygoers into a labyrinthine construction based on the enlarged inside of a reindeer's nose cavities. Inside, they can meander around or chill out on skins, tuning in on headphones to Sámi elders sharing tales and knowledge.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

Why the nose? It may seem whimsical, but the installation honors a rarely recognized biological feat: scientists have discovered that in less than one second, the reindeer's nose can raise the temperature of the surrounding air it breathes in by 80°C, enabling the creature to thrive in inhospitable Arctic temperatures. Enlarging the nose to larger than human size, Sara notes, "generates a sense of inferiority that you as a person are not in control over nature." The artist is a ex- reporter, children's author, and rights advocate, who is from a reindeer-herding family in northern Norway. "Perhaps that fosters the possibility to change your outlook or spark some humbleness," she states.

An Homage to Traditional Ways

The maze-like structure is part of a components in Sara's immersive art project showcasing the heritage, science, and philosophy of the Sámi, Europe's only Indigenous people. Traditionally mobile, the Sámi count approximately 100,000 people ranged across northern Norway, the Finnish Arctic, Sweden, and Russia's Kola Peninsula (an area they call Sápmi). They have experienced discrimination, cultural suppression, and eradication of their dialect by all four nations. With an emphasis on the reindeer, an creature at the core of the Sámi belief system and creation story, the art also draws attention to the group's challenges connected to the environmental emergency, land dispossession, and imperialism.

Meaning in Elements

Along the long entrance slope, there's a towering, eighty-five-foot sculpture of skins trapped by power and light cables. It represents a analogy for the political and economic systems constraining the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part spiritual ascent, this section of the installation, titled Goavve-, refers to the Sámi word for an harsh environmental condition, in which solid sheets of ice form as varying temperatures thaw and refreeze the snow, locking in the reindeers' key cold-season sustenance, fungus. The condition is a result of climate change, which is taking place up to at an accelerated rate in the Arctic than globally.

Three years ago, I met with Sara in the Norwegian far north during a goavvi winter and accompanied Sámi reindeer keepers on their Arctic vehicles in chilly conditions as they carried containers of animal nutrition on to the wind-scoured tundra to distribute manually. The herd crowded round us, digging the icy ground in vain for vegetative morsels. This expensive and labour-intensive procedure is having a severe influence on herding practices—and on the animals' self-sufficiency. However the alternative is malnutrition. As these icy periods become routine, reindeer are dying—some from lack of food, others submerging after falling into streams through unstable frozen surfaces. To some extent, the installation is a memorial to them. "By overlapping of components, in a way I'm introducing the goavvi to London," says Sara.

Contrasting Perspectives

The installation also highlights the stark difference between the western view of power as a asset to be utilized for gain and existence and the Sámi outlook of energy as an inherent essence in creatures, humans, and the environment. Tate Modern's past as a fossil fuel plant is connected to this, as is what the Sámi view as eco-imperialism by Nordic countries. As they strive to be leaders for renewable energy, these states have locked horns with the Sámi over the construction of windfarms, water power facilities, and mines on their traditional territory; the Sámi assert their human rights, incomes, and traditions are at risk. "It's very difficult being such a small minority to stand your ground when the reasons are based on global sustainability," Sara observes. "Mining practices has appropriated the discourse of ecology, but still it's just attempting to find more suitable ways to continue patterns of consumption."

Family Struggles

She and her family have personally disagreed with the Norwegian government over its increasingly stringent policies on reindeer management. A few years ago, Sara's sibling embarked on a set of unsuccessful court actions over the mandatory slaughter of his animals, apparently to stop overgrazing. As a show of solidarity, Sara created a extended set of pieces called Pile O'Sápmi including a massive screen of 400 animal bones, which was displayed at the 2017's event Documenta 14 and later obtained by the public gallery, where it resides in the entrance.

The Role of Art in Activism

For many Sámi, visual expression appears the only domain in which they can be understood by the global community. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|