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Máret Ánne Sara

Máret Ánne Sara - Artists - Garth Greenan Gallery

Máret Ánne Sara is an author and artist working in the mediums of sculpture, installation, collage, and drawing. Born in 1983 to a Sámi reindeer-herding family, Sara is based in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) in the Norwegian part of the Sápmi, the ancestral territory of the Sámi people. 

At the heart of Sara’s practice is an expression of the Sámi worldview. For Sara and her community, reindeer are not simply central to one’s livelihood—they activate a living symbiosis of humans, animals, and land. “I tell my stories through the reindeer,” says Sara, “because what happens to the reindeer also happens to us.” Reindeer bones, dried reindeer stomachs, preserved reindeer hides, even the smell of reindeer milk, coalesce in her work in profound, lyrical sculptures and installations that map cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Highlighting the interdependence of human and animal lives—and themes of sustainability, reusability, and Indigenous sovereignty—Sara’s art underscores the necessity of Sámi knowledge systems in preserving reciprocal relationships among animals, land, water, and humans.  

Sara first gained international attention in 2016, when her brother, Jovsset Ánte Sara, sued the Norwegian state to halt the forced culling of his reindeer herds. In solidarity, Sara hauled 200 bloody severed reindeer heads to the Inner Finnmark District Court, stacking them in a pile outside the courthouse in the middle of the night. This act of protest against the state-mandated slaughter—her “desperate scream for help,” as Sara has called it—became the first iteration of her multidisciplinary Pile o’Sápmi (2016–) project. In 2017, at Documenta 14 in Kassel—and, later in front of the Norwegian Supreme Court in Oslo—Sara reconfigured the installation as Pile o’Sápmi-Supreme, a monumental hanging sculpture consisting of 400 bullet-pierced reindeer skulls strung together to form the shape of the Sápmi flag. Acquired by the National Gallery in Norway in 2018, Pile o’Sápmi-Supreme is at once a searing indictment of the Norwegian state and a powerful assertion of Indigenous self-determination.

As a key part of her practice, Sara is also a deep supporter of Sámi creative life. In addition to creating posters, album covers, and logos for artists, designers, and institutions in her community, Sara is also a co-founder of Dáiddadállu Artist Collective, an organization dedicated to providing the infrastructure to support the visual artists, filmmakers, graphic designers, authors, musicians, and dancers of the Sápmi. At the Venice Biennale in 2022, with Pauliina Feodoroff and Anders Sunna, Sara co-organized the “The Sámi Pavilion,” an “Indigenization” of the Nordic pavilion that highlighted Sámi ancestral relations, Sámi knowledge and learning, and Sámi spiritual perspectives.  

Sara has been the recipient of many solo exhibitions, including, most recently, the prestigious Tate Modern Hyundai Commission at the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern (2025–26). In addition, Sara has had shows at Møre og Romsdal Kunstsenter (2023, Molde, Norway); Stiklestad Nasjonale Kultursenter (2023, Stiklestad, Norway); RiddoDuottarMuseat – Guovdageainnu gilišillju (2021, Guovdageainnu [Kautokeino], Norway); and Kulturens hus (2015, Luleå, Sweden). Sara has also appeared in many group exhibitions, including presentations at the National Museum of Norway  (2025, 2022, Oslo); Nord Norsk Kunstmuseum (2025, Tromsø); Akureyri Art Museum (2024, Iceland); MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (2023, Brazil); Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (2023, Halifax); Lillehammer Kunstmuseum (2023, Norway); The Sámi pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2022); and Kunsthal Charlottenborg (2020–21, Copenhagen). 

In addition to her work as a visual artist, Sara is also a published author. Her Sámi-language young adult fantasy novels Ilmmiid gaskkas (Between Worlds) (2013) and Doaresbealde doali (2014) were released by the Sámi publishing house DAT and translated into Norwegian and English. In 2014, Ilmmiid gaskkas (Between Worlds) was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for Children’s and Young People’s Literature. 

In 2021, Sara was shortlisted for the major Norwegian art prize Sandefjord Kunstforenings Kunstpris. In 2024, she was selected to design the stage curtain for the new Sámi national Theater in Guovdageaidnu.

Máret Ánne Sara

1983
Born in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) Norway

Lives and works in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) Norway

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025–2026
Hyundai Commission: Máret Ánne Sara, Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, London, United Kingdom, October 14, 2025–April 6, 2026

KUNST·HÅND·VERK, Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Norway, September 19, 2025–February 1, 2026

2025
Máret Ánne Sara: Gielastuvvon, Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Tromsø, Norway

Háhčešeatni doali dádjádit, Festspillene i Nord Norge, Harstad, Norway, June 21–28

2023
Bjørnsonfestivalutstilling 2023, Møre og Romsdal Kunstsenter, September 6–October 22

Olsokutstillingen 2023, Stiklestad Nasjonale Kultursenter, Stiklestad, Norway, July 25–September 30

2021
Ruoktot Roasuin, RiddoDuottarMuseum Gilišilju, Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway, August 13–September 3

2015
Vel eambbo oaivemozit/Expanded madness, Kulturens hus Luleå, Luleå, Sweden, June 13–August 29

2014
Oaivemozit/Galskap/Madness, Harstad Kunstforening, Harstad, Norway, September–October

Oaivemozit/Galskap/Madness, Hadsel Kunstforening, Hadsel, Norway, June–August

Boaresnieida, RiddoDuottarMuseum Gilišilju, Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway, April–May

2013
Oaivemozit/Galskap/Madness, Samisk Hus in Oslo, Norway, June–August

2012
Mørketidsfestivalen, Hammerfest Kunstforening, Hammerfest, Norway, November

Eat it, alege boakčan!, Kaffegalleriet, Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway, April

2008–2009
Várdobáiki, Sámi Senter Galleri, Evenes, Norway, November 2008–June 2009

2006–2007
Máret Ánne Sara, Sámi Siida Museum, Enari, Finland December 10, 2006—July 1,2007

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025–2026
Dialogue V: Art Sámi et Inuit, Rouyn-Noranda Art Museum, Quebec, Canada, October 10, 2025–January 18, 2026

2024
 Is this North?, Akureyri Art Museum, Akuyeri, Iceland, June 6–September 15

Dáiddadállu 10 Years, Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš, Karasjok, Norway, May 5–October 17

2023–2024
Histórias indígenas, MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, October 20, 2023–February 25, 2024

North Atlantic Triennale: Down North, Bildmuseet, May 26, 2023–January 14, 2024

2023
Fountainhead Biennial II: The Last Days of A House, Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, Florida, July 27–September 30

Det Eventyrlige, Lillehammer Kunstmuseum, Lillehammer, Norway, May 13–August 27
 
Arctic/Amazon: Networks of Global Indigeneity, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada, May 11–September 17

2022–2023
North Atlantic Triennale: Down North, Reykjavík Art Museum Hafnarhús, Reykjavík, Iceland, December 10, 2022–April 2, 2023

2022
SÁPMI Stories, Nordic House Faroe Islands, Dansistovan, Faroe Islands, November 14–27

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Canada, September 21–November 25

The Sámi Pavilion, The 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice Italy, April 23–November 27

North Atlantic Triennale: Down North, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, February 18–June 5

2021–2022
Environmental injustice – Indigenous Peoples’ Alternatives, Musée d'ethnographie de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland, September 24, 2021–August 21, 2022

2020
The White, the Green, and the Dark: Contemporary Positions from Norway, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Berlin, Germany, June 2–October 3

FLAG, Nuuk Art Museum at Holms House, Nuuk, Greenland

2019–2020
40 Jagi, Alta Kunstforening, Alta, Norway, November 22–January 18

House of Norway, Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, October 11–January 26

2019
PINNERSAAT, Nuuk Art Museum, Nuuk, Greenland, October 8–December 29

Historjjat/Historier, Dronning Sonjas Kunst stall, June

Let the river flow. The Sovereign Will and the Making of a New Worldliness, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Amsterdam, February 5–April 22, 2019

Let the river flow. The Sovereign Will and the Making of a New Worldliness, Sami Daiddaguovddas, Karasjok, Norway, May 15–July 7

2018–2019
Based on a True Story, Meet Factory, Prague, Czech Republic, November 23, 2018–January 27, 2019

Let the river flow. The Sovereign Will and the Making of a New Worldliness, Office for Contemporary Art Norway, April 18, 2014–June 3, 2018

2018
Samisk Identitet: En sommerutstilling, Nordkappmuseet, Honningsvåg, Norway, June 1–August 19

2017
Pile o´Sápmi Supreme, Tenthaus, Oslo, Norway, December 2–17

Documenta 14, Neue Neue Galerie (Neue Hauptpost), Kassel, Germany, April 8–September 17

Áigemátki-Tidsreise / Time Travel, Sámi Dáiddačehpiid Searvi and Tråante, February

Pile o´Sápmi, Tromsø, Norway, January

2016
Pile o´Sápmi, Tana, Karasjok, Norway

2015
Oaivemozit/Galskap/Madness, Galleri Hildreland, Bø, Norway, July

2014
Galskap: Ei kjærlighetshistorie–gode og dårlige utstikter av Máret Ánne Sara og Marion Palmer, Kjeldsenbruket and Varanger Museum, Vadsø, Norway, June–August

Galskap: Ei kjærlighetshistorie–gode og dårlige utstikter av Máret Ánne Sara og Marion Palmer, RiddoDuottarMuseum Gilišilju, Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway, April–May

Galskap: Ei kjærlighetshistorie–gode og dårlige utstikter av Máret Ánne Sara og Marion Palmer, Hammerfest Kunstforening, Hammerfest, Norway, February

2013
Oaivemozit/Galskap/Madness, Hadsel Kunstforening, Hadsel, Norway, July

Selected Bibliography

Sara, Máret A. Utenfor sporet (Norwegian translation of Doaresbealde Doali. Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway: DAT Publishing House. 2019.

———. In between worlds (English translation of Ilmmiid Gaskkas). Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway: DAT Publishing House. 2016.

———. Mellom verdener (Norwegian translation of Ilmmiid Gaskkas). Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway: DAT Publishing House. 2014.

———. Doaresbealde doali. Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway: DAT Publishing House. 2014.

———. Ilmmiid Gaskkas. Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino), Norway: DAT Publishing House. 2013.