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Attendees to the renowned gallery are accustomed to unusual experiences in its expansive Turbine Hall. They have sunbathed under an artificial sun, glided down spiral slides, and witnessed automated sea creatures drifting through the air. Yet this marks the first time they will be immersing themselves in the intricate nasal passages of a reindeer. The newest artistic project for this huge space—developed by Indigenous Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—welcomes gallerygoers into a labyrinthine structure based on the scaled-up interior of a reindeer's nasal cavities. Once inside, they can wander around or unwind on skins, tuning in on earphones to tribal seniors sharing stories and wisdom.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

Why choose the nasal structure? It might sound playful, but the installation honors a little-known natural marvel: experts have uncovered that in a fraction of a second, the reindeer's nose can warm the ambient air it takes in by 80°C, enabling the creature to endure in harsh Arctic temperatures. Enlarging the nose to larger than human size, Sara says, "generates a feeling of smallness that you as a human being are not in control over nature." The artist is a ex- writer, young adult author, and rights advocate, who hails from a reindeer-herding family in the far north of Norway. "Possibly that generates the potential to alter your perspective or spark some humility," she states.

An Homage to Traditional Ways

The winding structure is one of several features in Sara's engaging exhibition honoring the culture, understanding, and beliefs of the Sámi, the continent's original inhabitants. Traditionally mobile, the Sámi count roughly 100,000 people ranged across the Norwegian north, the Finnish Arctic, Sweden, and the Russian Arctic (an region they call Sápmi). They've experienced oppression, integration policies, and suppression of their language by all four nations. By focusing on the reindeer, an creature at the heart of the Sámi belief system and creation story, the work also highlights the people's issues connected to the environmental emergency, loss of territory, and imperialism.

Metaphor in Elements

At the extended entry ramp, there's a towering, 26-meter structure of pelts ensnared by utility lines. It can be read as a analogy for the societal frameworks constraining the Sámi. Part pylon, part heavenly staircase, this component of the installation, called Goavve-, relates to the Sámi term for an severe climatic event, in which solid sheets of ice appear as changing weather melt and ice over the snow, trapping the reindeers' primary winter food, lichen. The condition is a consequence of climate change, which is happening up to at an accelerated rate in the Arctic than in other regions.

Previously, I met with Sara in Guovdageaidnu during a severe cold period and went with Sámi herders on their snowmobiles in chilly conditions as they transported containers of food pellets on to the exposed Arctic plains to distribute by hand. The herd surrounded round us, pawing the slippery ground in vain attempts for vegetative morsels. This expensive and demanding method is having a drastic influence on herding practices—and on the animals' natural survival. Yet the choice is malnutrition. As goavvi winters become frequent, reindeer are succumbing—some from starvation, others suffocating after falling into streams through thinning ice sheets. On one level, the installation is a tribute to them. "By overlapping of materials, in a way I'm transporting the goavvi to London," says Sara.

Contrasting Belief Systems

The installation also highlights the clear contrast between the western understanding of power as a asset to be harnessed for economic benefit and survival and the Sámi philosophy of life force as an innate power in animals, people, and the environment. This venue's history as a coal and oil power station is tied up in this, as is what the Sámi consider eco-imperialism by regional governments. While attempting to be standard bearers for sustainable power, Scandinavian countries have disagreed with the Sámi over the development of windfarms, hydroelectric dams, and mines on their native soil; the Sámi argue their fundamental freedoms, incomes, and traditions are at risk. "It's challenging being such a small minority to defend yourself when the justifications are rooted in saving the world," Sara observes. "Mining practices has adopted the language of environmentalism, but still it's just attempting to find more suitable ways to persist in patterns of expenditure."

Personal Struggles

She and her relatives have themselves disagreed with the state authorities over its ever-stricter policies on animal husbandry. A few years ago, Sara's sibling embarked on a series of unsuccessful court actions over the required reduction of his animals, supposedly to stop vegetation depletion. To back him, Sara created a extended series of creations titled Pile O'Sápmi featuring a massive curtain of 400 reindeer skulls, which was shown at the 2017 event Documenta 14 and later acquired by the national institution, where it resides in the lobby.

The Role of Art in Advocacy

For numerous Indigenous people, creative work seems the only realm in which they can be heard by the global community. Recently, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|