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Visitors to the renowned gallery are accustomed to unexpected encounters in its spacious Turbine Hall. They've sunbathed under an man-made sun, glided down spiral slides, and observed automated sea creatures floating through the air. But this marks the initial time they will be venturing themselves in the intricate nasal cavities of a reindeer. The latest artist commission for this immense space—created by Indigenous Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—encourages patrons into a labyrinthine structure inspired by the expanded inside of a reindeer's nose airways. Once inside, they can wander around or unwind on pelts, listening on earphones to community leaders imparting tales and insights.

Why the Nose?

Why choose the nasal structure? It might appear whimsical, but the exhibit pays tribute to a rarely recognized natural marvel: researchers have discovered that in less than one second, the reindeer's nose can raise the temperature of the surrounding air it inhales by 80 degrees celsius, enabling the animal to endure in inhospitable Arctic temperatures. Scaling the nose to bigger than a person, Sara says, "produces a feeling of inferiority that you as a person are not superior over nature." She is a ex- journalist, children's author, and rights advocate, who is from a reindeer-herding family in the far north of Norway. "Maybe that generates the chance to shift your outlook or evoke some humility," she states.

An Homage to Indigenous Heritage

The labyrinthine installation is among various features in Sara's absorbing exhibition honoring the heritage, understanding, and philosophy of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Semi-nomadic, the Sámi count about 100,000 people ranged across the Norwegian north, the Finnish Arctic, the Swedish Lapland, and the Kola region (an area they call Sápmi). They've experienced persecution, cultural suppression, and repression of their tongue by all four countries. By focusing on the reindeer, an creature at the heart of the Sámi cosmology and origin tale, the installation also draws attention to the community's challenges relating to the climate crisis, loss of territory, and imperialism.

Symbolism in Materials

At the extended entrance ramp, there's a looming, eighty-five-foot formation of pelts entangled by power and light cables. It represents a symbol for the political and economic systems limiting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part heavenly staircase, this part of the installation, called Goavve-, refers to the Sámi name for an extreme weather phenomenon, wherein thick coatings of ice develop as fluctuating conditions thaw and solidify again the snow, locking in the reindeers' key winter food, moss. The condition is a consequence of climate change, which is occurring up to four times faster in the Polar region than in other regions.

Three years ago, I visited Sara in a remote town during a icy season and accompanied Sámi herders on their Arctic vehicles in chilly conditions as they carried trailers of food pellets on to the barren Arctic plains to distribute through labor. The herd gathered round us, digging the frozen ground in vain for vegetative bits. This expensive and laborious process is having a significant influence on herding practices—and on the animals' natural survival. Yet the choice is malnutrition. As these icy periods become commonplace, reindeer are succumbing—a number from starvation, others submerging after plunging into water bodies through thinning ice sheets. To some extent, the art is a memorial to them. "By overlapping of materials, in a way I'm bringing the phenomenon to London," says Sara.

Contrasting Belief Systems

The installation also highlights the clear difference between the industrial view of electricity as a asset to be harnessed for economic benefit and existence and the Sámi philosophy of vitality as an inherent life force in creatures, humans, and nature. Tate Modern's past as a fossil fuel plant is linked with this, as is what the Sámi view as green colonialism by Scandinavian states. While attempting to be standard bearers for renewable energy, these states have locked horns with the Sámi over the development of windfarms, water power facilities, and mines on their traditional territory; the Sámi argue their human rights, ways of life, and way of life are threatened. "It's very difficult being such a tiny group to protect your rights when the reasons are based on saving the world," Sara notes. "Resource exploitation has appropriated the rhetoric of ecology, but yet it's just attempting to find alternative ways to maintain practices of consumption."

Individual Challenges

Sara and her family have themselves disagreed with the Norwegian government over its tightening policies on animal husbandry. In 2016, Sara's brother undertook a series of ultimately unsuccessful court actions over the required reduction of his animals, ostensibly to stop overgrazing. To back him, Sara developed a four-year set of creations named Pile O'Sápmi including a colossal screen of 400 reindeer skulls, which was displayed at the 2017's show Documenta 14 and later purchased by the public gallery, where it resides in the lobby.

Art as Awareness

Among the community, creative work appears the exclusive realm in which they can be listened to by outsiders. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|