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Attendees to the renowned gallery are accustomed to unexpected experiences in its spacious Turbine Hall. They've basked under an man-made sun, descended down amusement rides, and seen automated sea creatures drifting through the air. But this marks the inaugural time they will be engaging themselves in the intricate nose chambers of a reindeer. The newest creative installation for this huge space—designed by Native Sámi artist Máret Ánne Sara—invites gallerygoers into a labyrinthine construction modeled after the scaled-up interior of a reindeer's nose cavities. Once inside, they can meander around or unwind on skins, listening on headphones to Sámi elders sharing stories and insights.

Focus on the Nasal Passages

Why choose the nasal structure? It may appear whimsical, but the installation pays tribute to a obscure natural marvel: researchers have discovered that in less than one second, the reindeer's nose can warm the incoming air it takes in by eighty degrees, enabling the animal to thrive in harsh Arctic temperatures. Scaling the nose to bigger than a person, Sara says, "creates a perception of smallness that you as a individual are not superior over nature." The artist is a ex- reporter, young adult author, and rights advocate, who hails from a herding family in northern Norway. "Maybe that creates the possibility to alter your outlook or evoke some humbleness," she continues.

An Homage to Indigenous Heritage

The winding design is one of several elements in Sara's absorbing exhibition honoring the culture, science, and beliefs of the Sámi, the continent's original inhabitants. Partially migratory, the Sámi total about 100,000 people spread across the Norwegian north, the Finnish Arctic, Sweden, and the Kola region (an region they call Sápmi). They have experienced persecution, integration policies, and eradication of their language by all four countries. Through highlighting the reindeer, an animal at the center of the Sámi belief system and creation story, the installation also highlights the group's issues relating to the global warming, property rights, and imperialism.

Meaning in Materials

Along the long access slope, there's a soaring, 26-metre structure of skins trapped by power and light cables. It can be read as a analogy for the governance and financial structures limiting the Sámi. Partly a utility pole, part heavenly staircase, this section of the artwork, called Goavve-, points to the Sámi word for an harsh environmental condition, in which dense sheets of ice develop as changing weather melt and solidify again the snow, trapping the reindeers' primary cold-season nourishment, moss. This phenomenon is a result of climate change, which is happening up to at an accelerated rate in the Polar region than in other regions.

A few years back, I traveled to see Sara in the Norwegian far north during a goavvi winter and went with Sámi pastoralists on their motorized sleds in biting cold as they carried trailers of supplementary feed on to the wind-scoured tundra to provide through labor. These animals gathered round us, pawing the frozen ground in vain attempts for lichen-covered pieces. This expensive and demanding procedure is having a significant effect on animal rearing—and on the animals' independence. However the other option is death. As these icy periods become routine, reindeer are perishing—a number from hunger, others drowning after plunging into water bodies through prematurely melting ice. In a sense, the work is a memorial to them. "With the layering of elements, in a way I'm transporting the phenomenon to London," says Sara.

Diverging Perspectives

The sculpture also underscores the sharp difference between the modern interpretation of energy as a resource to be utilized for gain and livelihood and the Sámi worldview of energy as an natural life force in creatures, people, and nature. The gallery's legacy as a coal and oil power station is linked with this, as is what the Sámi see as environmental exploitation by regional governments. As they strive to be standard bearers for renewable energy, Scandinavian countries have clashed with the Sámi over the development of turbine fields, river barriers, and extraction sites on their traditional territory; the Sámi contend their legal protections, incomes, and way of life are threatened. "It's challenging being such a limited population to defend yourself when the justifications are grounded in environmental protection," Sara notes. "Extractivism has appropriated the language of sustainability, but yet it's just aiming to find better ways to maintain habits of consumption."

Family Conflicts

Sara and her family have themselves conflicted with the state authorities over its tightening policies on herding. Previously, Sara's brother embarked on a series of finally failed lawsuits over the mandatory slaughter of his animals, supposedly to stop excessive feeding. In support, Sara developed a multi-year set of creations named Pile O'Sápmi featuring a huge curtain of numerous animal bones, which was exhibited at the 2017 art exhibition Documenta 14 and later obtained by the public gallery, where it is displayed in the entryway.

Creative Expression as Awareness

Among the community, creative work appears the sole sphere in which they can be listened to by outsiders. Two years ago, Sara was {one of three|among a group of|