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Guests to Tate Modern are accustomed to surprising experiences in its expansive Turbine Hall. They've relaxed under an man-made sun, descended down helter skelters, and seen AI-powered sea creatures drifting through the air. Yet this marks the inaugural time they will be venturing themselves in the complex nasal cavities of a reindeer. The current artist commission for this immense space—designed by Indigenous Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes patrons into a maze-like design based on the scaled-up inside of a reindeer's nasal airways. Once inside, they can meander around or relax on pelts, listening on earphones to community leaders imparting stories and wisdom.

Why the Nose?

Why choose the nasal structure? It could sound playful, but the installation honors a rarely recognized scientific wonder: experts have discovered that in a fraction of a second, the reindeer's nose can raise the temperature of the incoming air it breathes in by 80 degrees celsius, enabling the animal to endure in extreme Arctic conditions. Expanding the nose to bigger than a person, Sara explains, "creates a feeling of insignificance that you as a individual are not dominant over nature." The artist is a ex- journalist, writer for kids, and environmental activist, who is from a reindeer-herding family in the far north of Norway. "Possibly that creates the possibility to change your outlook or evoke some humbleness," she states.

An Homage to Indigenous Heritage

The labyrinthine structure is one of several features in Sara's absorbing art project showcasing the culture, knowledge, and beliefs of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Semi-nomadic, the Sámi total about 100,000 people spread across the Norwegian north, Finland, Sweden, and the Russian Arctic (an area they call Sápmi). They have experienced oppression, integration policies, and eradication of their language by all four countries. By focusing on the reindeer, an creature at the core of the Sámi mythology and creation story, the work also spotlights the people's issues associated with the climate crisis, loss of territory, and imperialism.

Symbolism in Materials

Along the long access incline, there's a soaring, 26-meter formation of pelts trapped by electrical wires. It represents a metaphor for the societal frameworks restricting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part celestial ladder, this component of the installation, named Goavve-, points to the Sámi name for an extreme weather phenomenon, whereby thick layers of ice develop as fluctuating weather thaw and refreeze the snow, encasing the reindeers' primary winter sustenance, fungus. The condition is a consequence of climate change, which is occurring up to at an accelerated rate in the Polar region than elsewhere.

Three years ago, I visited Sara in the Norwegian far north during a icy season and went with Sámi pastoralists on their snowmobiles in chilly conditions as they transported containers of supplementary feed on to the barren frozen landscape to distribute manually. The reindeer gathered round us, pawing the slippery ground in vain attempts for lichen-covered pieces. This resource-intensive and laborious method is having a significant impact on animal rearing—and on the animals' natural survival. But the alternative is death. As goavvi winters become routine, reindeer are succumbing—some from starvation, others submerging after falling into streams through unstable frozen surfaces. In a sense, the installation is a monument to them. "Through the stacking of elements, in a way I'm introducing the phenomenon to London," says Sara.

Contrasting Belief Systems

This artwork also emphasizes the stark divergence between the modern interpretation of electricity as a commodity to be exploited for economic benefit and existence and the Sámi worldview of life force as an inherent life force in creatures, humans, and nature. This venue's past as a industrial facility is tied up in this, as is what the Sámi see as eco-imperialism by Scandinavian states. As they strive to be leaders for clean sources, these states have locked horns with the Sámi over the building of turbine fields, river barriers, and mines on their traditional territory; the Sámi assert their fundamental freedoms, ways of life, and traditions are at risk. "It's challenging being such a small minority to defend yourself when the arguments are grounded in saving the world," Sara notes. "Resource exploitation has appropriated the discourse of ecology, but yet it's just attempting to find better ways to continue patterns of use."

Individual Challenges

Sara and her relatives have themselves clashed with the national administration over its ever-stricter regulations on herding. A few years ago, Sara's sibling initiated a series of ultimately unsuccessful court actions over the forced culling of his herd, apparently to stop excessive feeding. In support, Sara created a extended collection of creations called Pile O'Sápmi comprising a huge screen of numerous reindeer skulls, which was displayed at the the event Documenta 14 and later obtained by the National Museum of Oslo, where it is displayed in the entryway.

The Role of Art in Advocacy

For numerous Indigenous people, art seems the exclusive domain in which they can be listened to by people of other nations. Recently, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|