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Visitors to the renowned gallery are used to surprising experiences in its vast Turbine Hall. They've sunbathed under an artificial sun, descended down amusement rides, and seen automated sea creatures floating through the air. But this marks the inaugural time they will be immersing themselves in the intricate nasal passages of a reindeer. The current artist commission for this cavernous space—created by Indigenous Sámi creator Máret Ánne Sara—encourages visitors into a maze-like design inspired by the enlarged inside of a reindeer's nasal passages. Once inside, they can meander around or chill out on skins, listening on headphones to tribal seniors imparting stories and knowledge.

Why the Nose?

Why choose the nasal structure? It might sound quirky, but the exhibit honors a rarely recognized biological feat: researchers have uncovered that in under a second, the reindeer's nose can heat the surrounding air it inhales by 80°C, helping the animal to thrive in harsh Arctic climates. Enlarging the nose to human-scale dimensions, Sara explains, "produces a perception of smallness that you as a person are not in control over nature." She is a former writer, young adult author, and environmental activist, who comes from a reindeer-herding family in the Norwegian Arctic. "Maybe that generates the potential to shift your perspective or evoke some humility," she continues.

A Tribute to Traditional Ways

The labyrinthine structure is one of several components in Sara's absorbing art project showcasing the heritage, understanding, and philosophy of the Sámi, the sole native group in Europe. Partially migratory, the Sámi number roughly 100,000 people spread across northern Norway, the Finnish Arctic, Sweden, and the Kola region (an territory they call Sápmi). They've endured persecution, forced assimilation, and repression of their language by all four countries. By focusing on the reindeer, an creature at the core of the Sámi belief system and founding narrative, the installation also draws attention to the group's issues connected to the global warming, property rights, and colonialism.

Meaning in Elements

At the long entrance slope, there's a looming, 26-meter structure of skins trapped by electrical wires. It can be read as a symbol for the political and economic systems limiting the Sámi. Part pylon, part celestial ladder, this part of the exhibit, called Goavve-, points to the Sámi term for an severe climatic event, wherein thick sheets of ice develop as fluctuating temperatures thaw and ice over the snow, trapping the reindeers' primary winter nourishment, moss. Goavvi is a result of planetary warming, which is happening up to much more rapidly in the Polar region than in other regions.

Three years ago, I traveled to see Sara in a remote town during a severe cold period and went with Sámi pastoralists on their Arctic vehicles in chilly conditions as they carried containers of animal nutrition on to the exposed frozen landscape to provide by hand. The reindeer crowded round us, scratching the frozen ground in futility for mossy pieces. This costly and labour-intensive method is having a drastic impact on animal rearing—and on the animals' independence. But the other option is starvation. As goavvi winters become routine, reindeer are dying—a number from lack of food, others suffocating after sinking in water bodies through unstable frozen surfaces. In a sense, the work is a tribute to them. "By overlapping of elements, in a way I'm transporting the phenomenon to London," says Sara.

Diverging Worldviews

The installation also underscores the sharp difference between the western interpretation of power as a commodity to be harnessed for gain and existence and the Sámi outlook of life force as an innate power in animals, humans, and nature. This venue's legacy as a coal and oil power station is tied up in this, as is what the Sámi see as eco-imperialism by Nordic countries. In their efforts to be exemplars for clean sources, Nordic nations have disagreed with the Sámi over the construction of turbine fields, water power facilities, and mines on their traditional territory; the Sámi assert their human rights, livelihoods, and culture are endangered. "It's hard being such a small minority to stand your ground when the reasons are grounded in saving the world," Sara notes. "Resource exploitation has appropriated the language of sustainability, but still it's just attempting to find better ways to maintain practices of consumption."

Personal Challenges

The artist and her relatives have themselves disagreed with the state authorities over its tightening policies on reindeer management. In 2016, Sara's sibling initiated a series of finally failed lawsuits over the mandatory slaughter of his herd, apparently to stop overgrazing. In support, Sara created a four-year set of creations named Pile O'Sápmi featuring a massive drape of four hundred animal bones, which was exhibited at the the event Documenta 14 and later acquired by the National Museum of Oslo, where it hangs in the entryway.

Art as Awareness

For many Sámi, creative work is the only domain in which they can be listened to by the global community. Recently, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|