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Attendees to the renowned gallery are accustomed to unusual displays in its spacious Turbine Hall. They have basked under an simulated sun, glided down spiral slides, and seen robotic jellyfish hovering through the air. But this marks the first time they will be immersing themselves in the complex nose passages of a reindeer. The current artistic project for this immense space—designed by Indigenous Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—invites patrons into a winding design inspired by the expanded interior of a reindeer's nose passages. Upon entering, they can stroll around or unwind on pelts, listening on headphones to Sámi elders imparting tales and knowledge.

Why the Nose?

Why the nose? It may appear whimsical, but the exhibit celebrates a rarely recognized biological feat: experts have uncovered that in under a second, the reindeer's nose can raise the temperature of the incoming air it inhales by eighty degrees, allowing the creature to thrive in harsh Arctic conditions. Enlarging the nose to bigger than a person, Sara explains, "produces a sense of insignificance that you as a individual are not in control over nature." She is a ex- reporter, young adult author, and land defender, who hails from a reindeer-herding family in the far north of Norway. "Maybe that generates the possibility to change your viewpoint or trigger some modesty," she continues.

A Celebration to Indigenous Heritage

The winding installation is part of a elements in Sara's absorbing exhibition honoring the traditions, understanding, and beliefs of the Sámi, Europe's only Indigenous people. Semi-nomadic, the Sámi count approximately 100,000 people distributed across northern Norway, the Finnish Arctic, Sweden, and the Russian Arctic (an region they call Sápmi). They've experienced discrimination, forced assimilation, and suppression of their dialect by all four nations. With an emphasis on the reindeer, an animal at the center of the Sámi belief system and founding narrative, the installation also spotlights the group's struggles associated with the climate crisis, property rights, and colonialism.

Metaphor in Materials

At the lengthy entrance ramp, there's a looming, 26-metre sculpture of pelts entangled by power and light cables. It serves as a symbol for the political and economic systems limiting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part spiritual ascent, this part of the installation, named Goavve-, relates to the Sámi name for an harsh environmental condition, wherein dense sheets of ice form as changing weather liquefy and solidify again the snow, locking in the reindeers' key cold-season sustenance, lichen. The condition is a outcome of climate change, which is occurring up to much more rapidly in the Polar region than globally.

Previously, I visited Sara in the Norwegian far north during a icy season and accompanied Sámi pastoralists on their Arctic vehicles in biting cold as they carried carts of food pellets on to the barren frozen landscape to provide by hand. The reindeer gathered round us, scratching the slippery ground in vain for lichen-covered morsels. This resource-intensive and laborious method is having a drastic effect on herding practices—and on the animals' independence. Yet the other option is death. As these icy periods become frequent, reindeer are succumbing—a number from lack of food, others drowning after falling into lakes and rivers through prematurely melting ice. On one level, the installation is a memorial to them. "With the layering of materials, in a way I'm transporting the phenomenon to London," says Sara.

Opposing Perspectives

The installation also highlights the sharp difference between the western understanding of power as a commodity to be harnessed for gain and existence and the Sámi philosophy of vitality as an natural power in animals, people, and land. Tate Modern's history as a industrial facility is tied up in this, as is what the Sámi view as green colonialism by regional governments. As they strive to be standard bearers for sustainable power, Nordic nations have locked horns with the Sámi over the construction of turbine fields, water power facilities, and mines on their native soil; the Sámi contend their human rights, incomes, and way of life are threatened. "It's challenging being such a tiny group to protect your rights when the reasons are based on environmental protection," Sara comments. "Mining practices has adopted the language of ecology, but nonetheless it's just striving to find more suitable ways to maintain habits of expenditure."

Individual Struggles

The artist and her family have themselves conflicted with the national administration over its ever-stricter rules on reindeer management. A few years ago, Sara's sibling embarked on a series of unsuccessful court actions over the mandatory slaughter of his animals, supposedly to stop overgrazing. As a show of solidarity, Sara created a extended set of artworks titled Pile O'Sápmi including a colossal curtain of numerous reindeer skulls, which was shown at the the show Documenta 14 and later acquired by the national institution, where it hangs in the entrance.

Art as Advocacy

For many Sámi, visual expression seems the sole domain in which they can be listened to by outsiders. Two years ago, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|