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Attendees to the renowned gallery are familiar to unusual displays in its spacious Turbine Hall. They have relaxed under an man-made sun, slid down amusement rides, and witnessed AI-powered sea creatures hovering through the air. But this marks the inaugural time they will be venturing themselves in the intricate nasal cavities of a reindeer. The latest artistic project for this immense space—created by Native Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes visitors into a maze-like construction based on the enlarged inside of a reindeer's nasal airways. Once inside, they can meander around or chill out on skins, listening on headphones to tribal seniors telling narratives and wisdom.

The Significance of the Nose

Why choose the nasal structure? It may sound whimsical, but the exhibit celebrates a rarely recognized scientific wonder: scientists have found that in less than one second, the reindeer's nose can warm the incoming air it inhales by 80 degrees celsius, allowing the animal to thrive in inhospitable Arctic conditions. Enlarging the nose to larger than human size, Sara explains, "generates a perception of smallness that you as a individual are not in control over nature." She is a ex- reporter, young adult author, and land defender, who comes from a pastoral family in northern Norway. "Maybe that fosters the chance to change your outlook or spark some humility," she continues.

An Homage to Indigenous Heritage

The winding structure is among various elements in Sara's absorbing exhibition celebrating the heritage, understanding, and worldview of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Semi-nomadic, the Sámi number roughly 100,000 people ranged across the Norwegian north, Finland, the Swedish Lapland, and the Russian Arctic (an territory they call Sápmi). They have faced discrimination, forced assimilation, and repression of their tongue by all four countries. Through highlighting the reindeer, an animal at the heart of the Sámi cosmology and founding narrative, the work also draws attention to the community's struggles associated with the environmental emergency, land dispossession, and colonialism.

Metaphor in Elements

On the long entry incline, there's a towering, 26-meter formation of skins ensnared by electrical wires. It serves as a metaphor for the governance and financial structures restricting the Sámi. Part pylon, part spiritual ascent, this part of the installation, named Goavve-, relates to the Sámi name for an severe climatic event, wherein solid sheets of ice develop as fluctuating conditions liquefy and ice over the snow, locking in the reindeers' key cold-season nourishment, lichen. Goavvi is a consequence of global heating, which is occurring up to four times faster in the Far North than in other regions.

Three years ago, I met with Sara in a remote town during a severe cold period and went with Sámi pastoralists on their motorized sleds in chilly conditions as they transported carts of food pellets on to the exposed tundra to distribute through labor. These animals gathered round us, scratching the icy ground in vain for lichen-covered pieces. This resource-intensive and labour-intensive method is having a significant influence on reindeer husbandry—and on the animals' independence. However the choice is death. As these icy periods become commonplace, reindeer are dying—a number from starvation, others suffocating after falling into water bodies through prematurely melting ice. To some extent, the installation is a memorial to them. "With the layering of components, in a way I'm transporting the goavvi to London," says Sara.

Diverging Worldviews

This artwork also highlights the stark difference between the modern view of energy as a asset to be exploited for gain and livelihood and the Sámi philosophy of vitality as an inherent power in creatures, individuals, and land. Tate Modern's history as a coal and oil power station is tied up in this, as is what the Sámi view as eco-imperialism by Scandinavian states. While attempting to be standard bearers for sustainable power, these states have disagreed with the Sámi over the development of turbine fields, hydroelectric dams, and mines on their traditional territory; the Sámi assert their human rights, incomes, and culture are endangered. "It's very difficult being such a tiny group to defend yourself when the reasons are based on environmental protection," Sara comments. "Mining practices has adopted the discourse of sustainability, but nonetheless it's just striving to find alternative ways to persist in patterns of expenditure."

Individual Struggles

She and her kin have themselves conflicted with the Norwegian government over its increasingly stringent regulations on animal husbandry. In 2016, Sara's sibling embarked on a set of finally failed legal cases over the mandatory slaughter of his animals, ostensibly to stop overgrazing. To back him, Sara created a multi-year collection of artworks named Pile O'Sápmi including a massive curtain of four hundred cranial remains, which was exhibited at the 2017's art exhibition Documenta 14 and later acquired by the public gallery, where it resides in the entryway.

The Role of Art in Awareness

For many Sámi, art appears the exclusive sphere in which they can be understood by outsiders. Recently, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|