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Attendees to the renowned gallery are used to unusual encounters in its expansive Turbine Hall. They have sunbathed under an man-made sun, glided down spiral slides, and seen robotic jellyfish drifting through the air. But this marks the first time they will be engaging themselves in the complex nose chambers of a reindeer. The current artist commission for this immense space—created by Indigenous Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—encourages patrons into a winding structure inspired by the enlarged inside of a reindeer's nose cavities. Once inside, they can meander around or chill out on pelts, tuning in on headphones to Sámi elders sharing tales and insights.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

What's the focus on the nose? It may sound playful, but the installation pays tribute to a rarely recognized biological feat: scientists have found that in under a second, the reindeer's nose can raise the temperature of the ambient air it breathes in by 80 degrees celsius, helping the animal to thrive in harsh Arctic conditions. Enlarging the nose to human-scale dimensions, Sara explains, "generates a feeling of insignificance that you as a person are not superior over nature." She is a former writer, young adult author, and environmental activist, who is from a pastoral family in the Norwegian Arctic. "Maybe that creates the possibility to shift your outlook or evoke some modesty," she continues.

A Celebration to Indigenous Heritage

The labyrinthine design is among various elements in Sara's engaging exhibition celebrating the culture, knowledge, and philosophy of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Partially migratory, the Sámi total about 100,000 people distributed across the Norwegian north, the Finnish Arctic, the Swedish Lapland, and Russia's Kola Peninsula (an region they call Sápmi). They have experienced persecution, forced assimilation, and repression of their dialect by all four states. With an emphasis on the reindeer, an creature at the center of the Sámi mythology and origin tale, the work also draws attention to the community's struggles connected to the environmental emergency, loss of territory, and external control.

Metaphor in Elements

Along the long access ramp, there's a soaring, 26-meter formation of pelts trapped by power and light cables. It represents a symbol for the governance and financial structures limiting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part celestial ladder, this part of the exhibit, called Goavve-, refers to the Sámi word for an extreme weather phenomenon, in which thick layers of ice appear as changing temperatures thaw and refreeze the snow, locking in the reindeers' primary winter food, lichen. Goavvi is a result of planetary warming, which is occurring up to four times faster in the Arctic than elsewhere.

Three years ago, I visited Sara in Guovdageaidnu during a severe cold period and joined Sámi herders on their snowmobiles in chilly conditions as they hauled carts of food pellets on to the barren Arctic plains to provide through labor. These animals crowded round us, pawing the frozen ground in vain for vegetative morsels. This resource-intensive and laborious process is having a severe effect on herding practices—and on the animals' independence. But the alternative is starvation. As these icy periods become routine, reindeer are perishing—some from hunger, others suffocating after plunging into water bodies through thinning ice sheets. On one level, the art is a tribute to them. "With the layering of materials, in a way I'm introducing the phenomenon to London," says Sara.

Opposing Belief Systems

This artwork also underscores the sharp difference between the western understanding of power as a asset to be exploited for gain and livelihood and the Sámi philosophy of life force as an natural essence in animals, individuals, and the environment. 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 leaders for sustainable power, Scandinavian countries have disagreed with the Sámi over the construction of wind energy projects, water power facilities, and extraction sites on their traditional territory; the Sámi assert their human rights, incomes, and way of life are at risk. "It's challenging being such a small minority to stand your ground when the reasons are rooted in saving the world," Sara comments. "Extractivism has adopted the rhetoric of environmentalism, but yet it's just striving to find better ways to maintain habits of consumption."

Individual Challenges

The artist and her family have themselves conflicted with the national administration over its increasingly stringent regulations on reindeer management. In 2016, Sara's brother embarked on a series of ultimately unsuccessful court actions over the forced culling of his animals, ostensibly to stop excessive feeding. In support, Sara developed a multi-year collection of pieces called Pile O'Sápmi comprising a colossal curtain of numerous reindeer skulls, which was exhibited at the 2017's art exhibition Documenta 14 and later obtained by the National Museum of Oslo, where it hangs in the lobby.

Art as Activism

For numerous Indigenous people, art seems the exclusive sphere in which they can be listened to by people of other nations. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|