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Attendees to the renowned gallery are familiar to unexpected encounters in its vast Turbine Hall. They have relaxed under an simulated sun, descended down amusement rides, and observed robotic jellyfish hovering through the air. But this marks the initial time they will be engaging themselves in the detailed nose chambers of a reindeer. The newest artist commission for this huge space—developed by Indigenous Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—invites patrons into a winding structure inspired by the expanded inside of a reindeer's nasal cavities. Upon entering, they can wander around or relax on reindeer hides, listening on headphones to tribal seniors telling tales and insights.

Why the Nose?

Why choose the nasal structure? It may sound quirky, but the exhibit pays tribute to a rarely recognized biological feat: researchers have found that in under a second, the reindeer's nose can heat the surrounding air it takes in by eighty degrees, allowing the animal to survive in extreme Arctic climates. Expanding the nose to human-scale dimensions, Sara notes, "creates a feeling of insignificance that you as a human being are not dominant over nature." She is a former journalist, children's author, and land defender, who hails from a pastoral family in the Norwegian Arctic. "Possibly that creates the potential to change your perspective or trigger some modesty," she states.

A Celebration to Indigenous Heritage

The labyrinthine installation is part of a components in Sara's immersive art project showcasing the traditions, understanding, and philosophy of the Sámi, the continent's original inhabitants. Partially migratory, the Sámi total about 100,000 people ranged across the Norwegian north, Finland, the Swedish Lapland, and the Kola region (an region they call Sápmi). They've endured persecution, integration policies, and suppression of their dialect by all four states. Through highlighting the reindeer, an creature at the center of the Sámi cosmology and creation story, the art also draws attention to the people's challenges connected to the global warming, property rights, and external control.

Meaning in Components

On the lengthy entrance ramp, there's a towering, 26-meter sculpture of pelts ensnared by electrical wires. It serves as a metaphor for the political and economic systems restricting the Sámi. Like an electrical tower, part spiritual ascent, this section of the artwork, titled Goavve-, points to the Sámi term for an severe climatic event, in which thick layers of ice form as varying conditions melt and ice over the snow, encasing the reindeers' key winter food, lichen. Goavvi is a consequence of global heating, which is occurring up to much more rapidly in the Arctic than elsewhere.

Three years ago, I met with Sara in a remote town during a severe cold period and accompanied Sámi herders on their motorized sleds in freezing temperatures as they transported trailers of animal nutrition on to the wind-scoured Arctic plains to provide through labor. The reindeer gathered round us, scratching the slippery ground in vain for vegetative bits. This resource-intensive and demanding method is having a drastic influence on animal rearing—and on the animals' independence. However the choice is starvation. When such conditions become routine, reindeer are dying—some from hunger, others suffocating after sinking in water bodies through prematurely melting ice. On one level, the installation is a tribute to them. "Through the stacking of elements, in a way I'm introducing the phenomenon to London," says Sara.

Contrasting Perspectives

The sculpture also emphasizes the clear contrast between the modern understanding of power as a asset to be exploited for profit and existence and the Sámi philosophy of energy as an natural life force in creatures, humans, and land. Tate Modern's history as a industrial facility is linked with this, as is what the Sámi view as eco-imperialism by regional governments. While attempting to be leaders for sustainable power, these states have locked horns with the Sámi over the building of windfarms, water power facilities, and mines on their ancestral land; the Sámi contend their human rights, ways of life, and way of life are at risk. "It's hard being such a limited population to stand your ground when the arguments are based on environmental protection," Sara observes. "Extractivism has adopted the language of environmentalism, but yet it's just aiming to find more suitable ways to persist in patterns of expenditure."

Family Struggles

She and her relatives have themselves clashed with the national administration over its tightening rules on herding. A few years ago, Sara's brother embarked on a series of unsuccessful court actions over the mandatory slaughter of his livestock, ostensibly to stop excessive feeding. In support, Sara created a multi-year set of creations titled Pile O'Sápmi including a colossal screen of 400 cranial remains, which was shown at the 2017's event Documenta 14 and later acquired by the National Museum of Oslo, where it hangs in the entrance.

Art as Awareness

For many Sámi, visual expression seems the sole sphere in which they can be listened to by outsiders. Two years ago, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|