Harstad municipality collaborates with Troms and Finnmark county council on the annual conference Shelter for the Storm, on freedom of expression in cultural expressions.

This year's theme is "The power of symbols". This year's conference will be held on 29 June, and will be chaired by Maja Sojtaric.

Among the ushers is Jón Gnarr, an Icelandic actor, comedian, writer and politician. The aim of the conference is to highlight the challenges that freedom of expression faces from an artistic perspective - and the opportunities that lie in art as a tool in the service of freedom of expression.

The program for the conference consists of presentations by artists and projects, panel discussions and debates, as well as artistic features, all related to the theme of freedom of expression and artistic work.