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Visitors to the renowned gallery are used to surprising displays in its spacious Turbine Hall. They've sunbathed under an simulated sun, descended down helter skelters, and observed automated jellyfish drifting through the air. However this marks the initial time they will be engaging themselves in the complex nose cavities of a reindeer. The current artist commission for this cavernous space—created by Indigenous Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—encourages gallerygoers into a labyrinthine structure inspired by the expanded interior of a reindeer's nasal passages. Upon entering, they can meander around or relax on pelts, tuning in on headphones to community leaders sharing tales and insights.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

Why choose the nasal structure? It may seem quirky, but the artwork pays tribute to a little-known biological feat: experts have uncovered that in a fraction of a second, the reindeer's nose can warm the ambient air it inhales by 80°C, allowing the animal to thrive in inhospitable Arctic temperatures. Enlarging the nose to bigger than a person, Sara notes, "generates a feeling of inferiority that you as a individual are not superior over nature." She is a ex- writer, young adult author, and rights advocate, who comes from a pastoral family in northern Norway. "Maybe that generates the potential to shift your outlook or evoke some modesty," she states.

A Celebration to Traditional Ways

The maze-like installation is one of several elements in Sara's engaging commission showcasing the traditions, knowledge, and philosophy of the Sámi, the continent's original inhabitants. Semi-nomadic, the Sámi count about 100,000 people ranged across the Norwegian north, Finland, Sweden, and the Kola region (an area they call Sápmi). They have experienced oppression, forced assimilation, and eradication of their dialect by all four countries. With an emphasis on the reindeer, an animal at the core of the Sámi cosmology and founding narrative, the installation also draws attention to the community's struggles relating to the climate crisis, land dispossession, and external control.

Symbolism in Components

Along the long entry ramp, there's a towering, eighty-five-foot formation of reindeer hides ensnared by utility lines. It represents a metaphor for the societal frameworks limiting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part spiritual ascent, this section of the artwork, named Goavve-, points to the Sámi term for an harsh environmental condition, wherein thick layers of ice develop as changing weather liquefy and solidify again the snow, trapping the reindeers' primary winter nourishment, lichen. Goavvi is a outcome of climate change, which is occurring up to at an accelerated rate in the Far North than in other regions.

Previously, I traveled to see Sara in the Norwegian far north during a severe cold period and accompanied Sámi pastoralists on their Arctic vehicles in chilly conditions as they carried trailers of supplementary feed on to the barren tundra to provide through labor. These animals surrounded round us, pawing the frozen ground in vain for lichen-covered bits. This resource-intensive and labour-intensive procedure is having a severe impact on animal rearing—and on the animals' independence. However the other option is death. When such conditions become routine, reindeer are perishing—some from lack of food, others suffocating after falling into water bodies through prematurely melting ice. To some extent, the art is a tribute to them. "With the layering of elements, in a way I'm transporting the goavvi to London," says Sara.

Opposing Belief Systems

The installation also highlights the clear divergence between the western understanding of energy as a commodity to be harnessed for gain and survival and the Sámi outlook of vitality as an natural power in animals, humans, and nature. The gallery's history as a industrial facility is tied up in this, as is what the Sámi consider environmental exploitation by Nordic countries. As they strive to be leaders for clean sources, Scandinavian countries have disagreed with the Sámi over the construction of wind energy projects, hydroelectric dams, and digging operations on their traditional territory; the Sámi assert their legal protections, incomes, and way of life are at risk. "It's hard being such a limited population to defend yourself when the arguments are rooted in environmental protection," Sara comments. "Mining practices has adopted the language of sustainability, but still it's just attempting to find more suitable ways to maintain practices of expenditure."

Personal Challenges

Sara and her family have personally clashed with the state authorities over its ever-stricter rules on reindeer management. A few years ago, Sara's brother embarked on a series of ultimately unsuccessful court actions over the forced culling of his herd, apparently to stop excessive feeding. As a show of solidarity, Sara developed a extended set of artworks titled Pile O'Sápmi comprising a huge screen of numerous cranial remains, which was shown at the the event Documenta 14 and later acquired by the public gallery, where it is displayed in the entrance.

Creative Expression as Activism

For many Sámi, creative work is the sole sphere in which they can be heard by the global community. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|