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Guests to Tate Modern are familiar to surprising experiences in its vast Turbine Hall. They have relaxed under an simulated sun, glided down amusement rides, and seen robotic jellyfish drifting through the air. But this marks the initial time they will be immersing themselves in the intricate nose chambers of a reindeer. The newest creative installation for this cavernous space—created by Native Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes visitors into a winding structure modeled after the enlarged inside of a reindeer's nasal passages. Upon entering, they can stroll around or chill out on pelts, tuning in on earphones to tribal seniors telling tales and knowledge.

Why the Nose?

What's the focus on the nose? It may appear whimsical, but the artwork celebrates a little-known natural marvel: scientists have discovered that in under a second, the reindeer's nose can raise the temperature of the ambient air it takes in by eighty degrees, enabling the creature to thrive in inhospitable Arctic climates. Expanding the nose to larger than human size, Sara says, "produces a sense of smallness that you as a individual are not dominant over nature." The artist is a ex- writer, writer for kids, and land defender, who is from a pastoral family in northern Norway. "Perhaps that creates the possibility to change your viewpoint or trigger some humbleness," she continues.

An Homage to Traditional Ways

The maze-like installation is among various features in Sara's engaging exhibition honoring the traditions, science, and philosophy of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Partially migratory, the Sámi count approximately 100,000 people spread across northern Norway, Finland, the Swedish Lapland, and the Russian Arctic (an territory they call Sápmi). They've experienced persecution, forced assimilation, and repression of their dialect by all four countries. Through highlighting the reindeer, an creature at the center of the Sámi mythology and creation story, the art also spotlights the people's struggles relating to the climate crisis, loss of territory, and imperialism.

Metaphor in Materials

On the long access ramp, there's a looming, 26-metre structure of pelts trapped by electrical wires. It can be read as a analogy for the societal frameworks limiting the Sámi. Part pylon, part celestial ladder, this section of the exhibit, titled Goavve-, relates to the Sámi name for an harsh environmental condition, in which solid sheets of ice appear as changing conditions melt and ice over the snow, trapping the reindeers' primary cold-season food, lichen. The condition is a consequence of global heating, which is occurring up to much more rapidly in the Polar region than in other regions.

Previously, I traveled to see Sara in a remote town during a severe cold period and went with Sámi herders on their Arctic vehicles in freezing temperatures as they carried carts of animal nutrition on to the barren Arctic plains to provide through labor. These animals gathered round us, scratching the icy ground in futility for vegetative morsels. This costly and laborious process is having a severe influence on reindeer husbandry—and on the animals' self-sufficiency. However the other option is malnutrition. As these icy periods become frequent, reindeer are dying—a number from lack of food, others suffocating after falling into water bodies through unstable frozen surfaces. On one level, the art is a tribute to them. "By overlapping of materials, in a way I'm bringing the condition to London," says Sara.

Diverging Perspectives

The sculpture also underscores the sharp divergence between the western interpretation of power as a asset to be harnessed for economic benefit and existence and the Sámi worldview of vitality as an natural power in creatures, people, and the environment. This venue's legacy as a coal and oil power station is linked with this, as is what the Sámi consider environmental exploitation by regional governments. In their efforts to be leaders for renewable energy, Scandinavian countries have locked horns with the Sámi over the development of windfarms, hydroelectric dams, and mines on their ancestral land; the Sámi argue their human rights, ways of life, and way of life are at risk. "It's challenging being such a limited population to stand your ground when the reasons are grounded in global sustainability," Sara observes. "Mining practices has co-opted the discourse of sustainability, but still it's just attempting to find alternative ways to continue habits of consumption."

Family Struggles

She and her relatives have themselves conflicted with the national administration over its ever-stricter policies on herding. Previously, Sara's sibling initiated a series of unsuccessful court actions over the required reduction of his livestock, ostensibly to stop vegetation depletion. In support, Sara produced a multi-year collection of pieces titled Pile O'Sápmi including a colossal screen of four hundred cranial remains, which was displayed at the 2017 show Documenta 14 and later obtained by the national institution, where it hangs in the entrance.

Creative Expression as Activism

For many Sámi, creative work is the only sphere in which they can be listened to by outsiders. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|