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Attendees to the renowned gallery are used to unexpected encounters in its vast Turbine Hall. They have basked under an artificial sun, glided down helter skelters, and observed automated jellyfish floating through the air. However this marks the first time they will be engaging themselves in the detailed nasal chambers of a reindeer. The current artistic project for this cavernous space—developed by Native Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes patrons into a maze-like construction based on the scaled-up interior of a reindeer's nasal cavities. Inside, they can wander around or unwind on skins, listening on headphones to tribal seniors telling tales and wisdom.

The Significance of the Nose

Why the nose? It may appear whimsical, but the exhibit honors a little-known natural marvel: experts have found that in less than one second, the reindeer's nose can warm the surrounding air it takes in by 80 degrees celsius, helping the animal to endure in harsh Arctic temperatures. Scaling the nose to bigger than a person, Sara says, "creates a feeling of inferiority that you as a individual are not superior over nature." She is a former journalist, writer for kids, and environmental activist, who comes from a reindeer-herding family in the Norwegian Arctic. "Possibly that creates the possibility to alter your outlook or spark some modesty," she adds.

A Celebration to Traditional Ways

The winding structure is one of several features in Sara's engaging commission celebrating the heritage, science, and worldview of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Partially migratory, the Sámi total approximately 100,000 people distributed across the Norwegian north, Finland, the Swedish Lapland, and the Russian Arctic (an area they call Sápmi). They've experienced discrimination, cultural suppression, and eradication of their dialect by all four states. With an emphasis on the reindeer, an creature at the center of the Sámi belief system and founding narrative, the work also draws attention to the people's issues connected to the climate crisis, property rights, and imperialism.

Symbolism in Materials

Along the long entrance incline, there's a soaring, 26-meter sculpture of reindeer hides ensnared by electrical wires. It represents a metaphor for the societal frameworks restricting the Sámi. Part pylon, part spiritual ascent, this section of the installation, titled Goavve-, refers to the Sámi name for an harsh environmental condition, whereby dense coatings of ice develop as changing weather thaw and refreeze the snow, locking in the reindeers' primary winter sustenance, lichen. Goavvi is a outcome of global heating, which is taking place up to much more rapidly in the Polar region than in other regions.

Three years ago, I traveled to see Sara in Guovdageaidnu during a goavvi winter and joined Sámi reindeer keepers on their snowmobiles in biting cold as they carried carts of supplementary feed on to the wind-scoured frozen landscape to provide manually. The reindeer crowded round us, pawing the slippery ground in vain attempts for lichen-covered morsels. This resource-intensive and demanding method is having a significant impact on herding practices—and on the animals' independence. However the other option is starvation. When such conditions become commonplace, reindeer are perishing—a number from lack of food, others submerging after plunging into lakes and rivers through unstable frozen surfaces. On one level, the installation is a tribute to them. "With the layering of materials, in a way I'm transporting the condition to London," says Sara.

Contrasting Perspectives

This artwork also highlights the stark contrast between the western view of power as a commodity to be exploited for economic benefit and existence and the Sámi philosophy of life force as an innate power in animals, individuals, and the environment. The gallery's past as a coal and oil power station is linked with this, as is what the Sámi view as environmental exploitation by regional governments. As they strive to be leaders for clean sources, Nordic nations have disagreed with the Sámi over the building of wind energy projects, water power facilities, and digging operations on their traditional territory; the Sámi contend their fundamental freedoms, incomes, and culture are endangered. "It's hard being such a limited population to protect your rights when the reasons are rooted in global sustainability," Sara observes. "Mining practices has adopted the language of environmentalism, but still it's just attempting to find better ways to persist in patterns of consumption."

Individual Challenges

Sara and her relatives have personally clashed with the Norwegian government over its tightening regulations on reindeer management. Previously, Sara's brother initiated a series of finally failed lawsuits over the required reduction of his animals, apparently to stop overgrazing. To back him, Sara produced a multi-year set of creations named Pile O'Sápmi including a massive curtain of numerous cranial remains, which was shown at the the art exhibition Documenta 14 and later purchased by the public gallery, where it hangs in the lobby.

The Role of Art in Activism

For numerous Indigenous people, art appears the only domain in which they can be listened to by the global community. In 2022, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|