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Visitors to Tate Modern are familiar to surprising experiences in its expansive Turbine Hall. They've relaxed under an artificial sun, descended down amusement rides, and observed AI-powered jellyfish hovering through the air. But this marks the first time they will be venturing themselves in the complex nasal passages of a reindeer. The latest artist commission for this cavernous space—developed by Indigenous Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—encourages patrons into a maze-like design inspired by the expanded inside of a reindeer's nasal passages. Inside, they can meander around or relax on reindeer hides, listening on headphones to community leaders sharing stories and knowledge.

Why the Nose?

Why the nose? It may sound quirky, but the installation celebrates a little-known biological feat: researchers have discovered that in less than one second, the reindeer's nose can warm the ambient air it inhales by 80 degrees celsius, helping the animal to thrive in harsh Arctic climates. Enlarging the nose to bigger than a person, Sara notes, "generates a perception of smallness that you as a person are not dominant over nature." The artist is a former writer, children's author, and environmental activist, who is from a pastoral family in the far north of Norway. "Maybe that creates the potential to change your viewpoint or evoke some modesty," she adds.

A Tribute to Indigenous Heritage

The labyrinthine structure is among various features in Sara's engaging art project showcasing the culture, knowledge, and worldview of the Sámi, the continent's original inhabitants. Traditionally mobile, the Sámi total about 100,000 people ranged across the Norwegian north, the Finnish Arctic, Sweden, and the Kola region (an area they call Sápmi). They have endured oppression, integration policies, and repression of their language by all four countries. Through highlighting the reindeer, an animal at the heart of the Sámi belief system and origin tale, the installation also spotlights the people's issues connected to the global warming, land dispossession, and external control.

Symbolism in Components

At the extended entry ramp, there's a soaring, eighty-five-foot structure of skins trapped by power and light cables. It can be read as a metaphor for the governance and financial structures restricting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part spiritual ascent, this part of the installation, called Goavve-, refers to the Sámi term for an extreme weather phenomenon, whereby thick coatings of ice form as varying weather thaw and ice over the snow, trapping the reindeers' primary winter food, fungus. This phenomenon is a consequence of climate change, which is occurring up to at an accelerated rate in the Polar region than elsewhere.

Previously, I visited Sara in the Norwegian far north during a severe cold period and joined Sámi reindeer keepers on their snowmobiles in freezing temperatures as they transported trailers of food pellets on to the barren tundra to provide through labor. These animals crowded round us, scratching the icy ground in vain for vegetative morsels. This costly and laborious procedure is having a drastic influence on reindeer husbandry—and on the animals' natural survival. But the choice is death. As goavvi winters become frequent, reindeer are dying—a number from starvation, others submerging after falling into lakes and rivers through prematurely melting ice. To some extent, the installation is a tribute to them. "Through the stacking of elements, in a way I'm transporting the condition to London," says Sara.

Opposing Belief Systems

The installation also underscores the clear contrast between the modern interpretation of power as a asset to be utilized for profit and livelihood and the Sámi worldview of life force as an natural essence in creatures, individuals, and nature. Tate Modern's history as a coal and oil power station is linked with this, as is what the Sámi see as eco-imperialism by Scandinavian states. While attempting to be standard bearers for renewable energy, these states have disagreed with the Sámi over the building of wind energy projects, hydroelectric dams, and extraction sites on their traditional territory; the Sámi argue their legal protections, incomes, and traditions are at risk. "It's challenging being such a tiny group to defend yourself when the reasons are grounded in saving the world," Sara comments. "Extractivism has appropriated the discourse of environmentalism, but yet it's just striving to find alternative ways to maintain practices of consumption."

Individual Struggles

Sara and her family have themselves disagreed with the state authorities over its tightening rules on herding. Previously, Sara's sibling initiated a set of ultimately unsuccessful legal cases over the mandatory slaughter of his herd, apparently to stop excessive feeding. To back him, Sara developed a extended collection of creations titled Pile O'Sápmi featuring a huge curtain of numerous animal bones, which was shown at the 2017's event Documenta 14 and later purchased by the public gallery, where it resides in the entrance.

Art as Awareness

For many Sámi, visual expression appears the sole sphere in which they can be listened to by people of other nations. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|