Máret Ánne Sara, a Northern Sámi artist, has been awarded the prestigious 2025 Turbine Hall commission by Tate Modern. Sara is known for her sculptures and installations that address global ecological issues through the lens of the Sámi community. The installation will be unveiled on October 14, 2025, and will be on view until April 6, 2026.
Sara explores themes such as the effects of Nordic colonialism on Sámi ways of life and the importance of preserving Sámi ancestral knowledge and values to protect the environment for future generations. Tate Modern director Karin Hindsbo said, “Máret Ánne Sara is among a prolific group of Sámi artists who have received widespread international attention in recent years for making visible the issues facing Sápmi and Sámi people.”
Born in 1983 to a Sámi reindeer herding family in Guovdageaidnu in the Norwegian part of Sápmi, Sara frequently incorporates materials and methodologies derived from reindeer herding into her practice. She is also the founder of the artist collective Pile o’ Sápmi and has shown her work at major international exhibitions including Documenta 14 and the Fifty-Ninth Venice Biennale.
Máret Ánne Sara’s ecological reflections
One of her well-known installations, Pile o’ Sápmi, shown at Documenta 14, featured hundreds of reindeer skulls hung in a curtain, commenting on the cull decreed by the Norwegian Reindeer Herding Act, which contradicts Sámi traditions. Another significant work, Ale suova sielu sáiget, a rotating carousel of cured red reindeer calves and dried plants sourced from the tundra, was presented at the Venice Biennale and addressed the impacts of climate change on both animals and the Sámi people.
Sara’s work, deeply rooted in the reciprocal relationship between animals, humans, and the environment, promises to deliver a profound and thought-provoking experience for visitors of the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. The choice of Sara for the commission aligns with a broader trend of museums and biennials worldwide focusing on Indigenous art and heritage. Tate has launched a new initiative to increase the representation of Indigenous works in its collection, backed by the AKO foundation, a charitable trust established by Norwegian businessman Nicolai Tangen.
Additionally, Tate and Hyundai Motor have announced a decade-long extension of their sponsorship partnership, which covers the Hyundai Turbine Hall commission and the Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational until 2036.