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Visitors to Tate Modern are familiar to unusual displays in its vast Turbine Hall. They have relaxed under an man-made sun, descended down amusement rides, and seen automated sea creatures drifting through the air. Yet this marks the first time they will be immersing themselves in the detailed nasal cavities of a reindeer. The newest artist commission for this huge space—created by Native Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—invites patrons into a labyrinthine construction based on the expanded inside of a reindeer's nose cavities. Inside, they can stroll around or unwind on skins, tuning in on headphones to community leaders telling tales and wisdom.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

Why the nose? It may sound whimsical, but the exhibit pays tribute to a little-known scientific wonder: scientists have uncovered that in less than one second, the reindeer's nose can heat the surrounding air it takes in by eighty degrees, helping the animal to endure in harsh Arctic conditions. Enlarging the nose to larger than human size, Sara says, "generates a perception of insignificance that you as a individual are not superior over nature." She is a ex- writer, young adult author, and environmental activist, who hails from a herding family in the far north of Norway. "Possibly that fosters the chance to shift your perspective or evoke some humility," she states.

A Celebration to Traditional Ways

The maze-like design is one of several elements in Sara's immersive commission celebrating the culture, knowledge, and beliefs of the Sámi, the continent's original inhabitants. Partially migratory, the Sámi count roughly 100,000 people ranged across the Norwegian north, Finland, Sweden, and the Russian Arctic (an territory they call Sápmi). They have experienced persecution, cultural suppression, and suppression of their dialect by all four countries. By focusing on the reindeer, an creature at the core of the Sámi cosmology and founding narrative, the work also highlights the group's challenges connected to the global warming, property rights, and colonialism.

Meaning in Materials

At the lengthy entry slope, there's a soaring, 26-meter formation of reindeer hides trapped by electrical wires. It represents a symbol for the governance and financial structures constraining the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part heavenly staircase, this part of the exhibit, titled Goavve-, points to the Sámi word for an severe climatic event, wherein thick coatings of ice appear as varying temperatures melt and solidify again the snow, encasing the reindeers' main winter nourishment, lichen. This phenomenon is a consequence of global heating, which is taking place up to at an accelerated rate in the Far North than elsewhere.

Previously, I met with Sara in Guovdageaidnu during a goavvi winter and joined Sámi reindeer keepers on their Arctic vehicles in biting cold as they hauled carts of animal nutrition on to the barren tundra to provide through labor. The reindeer gathered round us, digging the icy ground in vain for mossy bits. This expensive and laborious process is having a drastic impact on herding practices—and on the animals' self-sufficiency. Yet the alternative is death. As goavvi winters become routine, reindeer are succumbing—a number from hunger, others drowning after sinking in lakes and rivers through unstable frozen surfaces. To some extent, the installation is a memorial to them. "With the layering of elements, in a way I'm bringing the goavvi to London," says Sara.

Diverging Perspectives

The sculpture also emphasizes the stark contrast between the modern understanding of electricity as a commodity to be exploited for gain and livelihood and the Sámi outlook of energy as an natural power in creatures, individuals, and the environment. Tate Modern's history as a coal and oil power station is connected to this, as is what the Sámi see as eco-imperialism by regional governments. In their efforts to be standard bearers for renewable energy, these states have locked horns with the Sámi over the construction of turbine fields, hydroelectric dams, and digging operations on their ancestral land; the Sámi assert their human rights, ways of life, and way of life are at risk. "It's very difficult being such a limited population to defend yourself when the arguments are rooted in saving the world," Sara observes. "Extractivism has adopted the discourse of sustainability, but still it's just attempting to find alternative ways to maintain practices of expenditure."

Individual Conflicts

The artist and her kin have themselves disagreed with the national administration over its tightening policies on reindeer management. A few years ago, Sara's sibling undertook a set of ultimately unsuccessful court actions over the required reduction of his herd, supposedly to stop excessive feeding. In support, Sara created a multi-year series of creations called Pile O'Sápmi comprising a huge screen of four hundred reindeer skulls, which was displayed at the 2017's art exhibition Documenta 14 and later obtained by the public gallery, where it resides in the lobby.

Creative Expression as Activism

For many Sámi, visual expression is the sole domain in which they can be understood by outsiders. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|