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Attendees to Tate Modern are familiar to surprising encounters in its vast Turbine Hall. They have sunbathed under an man-made sun, descended down amusement rides, and observed automated sea creatures floating through the air. But this marks the inaugural time they will be immersing themselves in the complex nose chambers of a reindeer. The current creative installation for this cavernous space—designed by Native Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes gallerygoers into a winding structure based on the scaled-up interior of a reindeer's nose passages. Inside, they can wander around or relax on pelts, listening on earphones to tribal seniors imparting narratives and wisdom.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

What's the focus on the nose? It might seem whimsical, but the exhibit pays tribute to a little-known natural marvel: experts have discovered that in a fraction of a second, the reindeer's nose can warm the surrounding air it inhales by 80 degrees celsius, enabling the creature to thrive in extreme Arctic temperatures. Expanding the nose to larger than human size, Sara notes, "produces a sense of smallness that you as a individual are not superior over nature." She is a ex- reporter, writer for kids, and land defender, who is from a herding family in the Norwegian Arctic. "Possibly that generates the chance to change your outlook or trigger some humility," she states.

A Celebration to Traditional Ways

The maze-like structure is one of several features in Sara's immersive commission honoring the culture, science, and worldview of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Partially migratory, the Sámi count approximately 100,000 people distributed across the Norwegian north, the Finnish Arctic, Sweden, and the Russian Arctic (an territory they call Sápmi). They have endured persecution, integration policies, and suppression of their dialect by all four countries. By focusing on the reindeer, an animal at the center of the Sámi mythology and origin tale, the art also draws attention to the community's challenges relating to the global warming, property rights, and colonialism.

Metaphor in Elements

At the extended entry incline, there's a soaring, 26-metre formation of reindeer hides entangled by utility lines. It represents a metaphor for the societal frameworks constraining the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part celestial ladder, this component of the artwork, called Goavve-, relates to the Sámi name for an harsh environmental condition, whereby dense sheets of ice appear as varying weather melt and ice over the snow, encasing the reindeers' key cold-season sustenance, lichen. Goavvi is a result of planetary warming, which is happening up to four times faster in the Arctic than elsewhere.

Three years ago, I met with Sara in Guovdageaidnu during a severe cold period and joined Sámi herders on their Arctic vehicles in biting cold as they carried trailers of food pellets on to the exposed tundra to provide manually. The herd crowded round us, scratching the icy ground in futility for lichen-covered morsels. This resource-intensive and laborious procedure is having a drastic impact on herding practices—and on the animals' natural survival. However the alternative is malnutrition. As these icy periods become commonplace, reindeer are dying—some from starvation, others drowning after plunging into lakes and rivers through thinning ice sheets. On one level, the work is a monument to them. "Through the stacking of components, in a way I'm bringing the goavvi to London," says Sara.

Opposing Perspectives

This artwork also underscores the stark difference between the western interpretation of electricity as a resource to be exploited for profit and livelihood and the Sámi worldview of vitality as an innate power in animals, people, and nature. The gallery's past as a fossil fuel plant is linked with this, as is what the Sámi view as eco-imperialism by regional governments. While attempting to be exemplars for clean sources, Scandinavian countries have disagreed with the Sámi over the building of windfarms, river barriers, and mines on their native soil; the Sámi argue their fundamental freedoms, incomes, and traditions are endangered. "It's very difficult being such a small minority to protect your rights when the justifications are grounded in global sustainability," Sara observes. "Mining practices has co-opted the discourse of environmentalism, but still it's just aiming to find more suitable ways to maintain habits of expenditure."

Individual Conflicts

She and her family have themselves conflicted with the national administration over its tightening policies on reindeer management. Previously, Sara's sibling embarked on a series of unsuccessful legal cases over the forced culling of his livestock, apparently to stop excessive feeding. In support, Sara developed a four-year collection of creations named Pile O'Sápmi comprising a massive drape of 400 cranial remains, which was displayed at the the art exhibition Documenta 14 and later purchased by the National Museum of Oslo, where it resides in the lobby.

The Role of Art in Awareness

Among the community, visual expression seems the only domain in which they can be heard by people of other nations. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|