Tate Modern: Official opening of the art installation Goavve-Geabbil

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Distinguished guests,
Dear friends and patrons of art and culture,

It is a historic moment, standing here today where we are soon about to enter the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern – which almost feels like entering a cathedral.

We are celebrating a remarkable and well deserved recognition of the artist Máret Ánne Sara. We are celebrating the importance of art in difficult and turbulent times – like the one we live in now. We need art both to confront us, to wake us up, and to bring us together as humans across our differences.

That is exactly what Máret Ánne Sara does with her works.

Be it in the National Museum in Oslo, where one of her permanent installations is the first visitors encounter – or at the Venice Biennale, where she was represented three years ago. In Norway, and across the northern borders of Sápmi we are proud of this remarkable artist. Here at Tate, she will reach even further and hopefully touch the hearts and minds of people who experience her works for the first time.

Congratulations, Máret Ánne Sara. Lihkku beivviin!

We all have different sources for collecting knowledge and wisdom. The Sami culture is based on the recognition that humans, animals and nature belong together – and must exist in mutual understanding and respect.

As we all know, this is not the case in the world today.

We all have to learn from the Sámi experience – which is shared by indigenous peoples all over the world. Their experience is a journey into the core of life itself – and of art. It seeks to bring us – and life on earth – back into balance.

Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends of the arts,
Máret Ánne Saras installation, that we are now about to see, transforms this industrial cathedral into a space of reflections. It invites us to consider the fragility of ecosystems, and the strength to be found in cultural connections.

I commend Tate Modern and Hyundai for their visionary partnership, which has made this commission possible and continues to support universal perspectives in art. This collaboration is a testament to the power of art to transcend borders, disciplines, and generations.

Máret Ánne Sara, may your work here inspire dialogue and understanding. And may it remind us all of the sacred bond between humans and nature.

Thank you.