Democracy in Hábmer/Hamarøy 5-11 Oct.

Hábmer/Hamarøy is in a process where the goal is for the municipality to become a Free City (village/municipality) for persecuted authors or journalists from minority populations in the world. In this regard, we are strongly committed to marking Banned Books Week locally here in Hábmer/Hamarøy.

More information about the week itself nationally: Banned Books Week Norway - University Library

Free speech is under pressure around the world today, and is not something that can be taken for granted. Furthermore, art is part of society's civil preparedness. At different times and places, art, music, libraries and literature have played a major role in society's resilience. The national Total Preparedness Report highlights art, culture and cultural heritage as important parts of .

Various cultural actors in Hábmer/Hamarøy are joining forces to mark Democracy Week with various exciting events that address censorship, freedom of expression and democracy through various artistic expressions:

Democracy Week Program

Book exhibition
October 5 - 11 (all week)
Where: Main library at Oppeid
Book exhibition focusing on censorship, freedom of expression and democracy.

Protest concert
Thursday, October 8
Where: Hamarøy Church
When: 6:00 PM
Censored music and protest songs from various times and places, performed by the cultural school's teachers, cultural school students of middle school age, the church's youth choir and other local performers.

Sound performance with Gisle Nataas
Friday, October 9
Where: The Hamsun Centre
When: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Architect, composer and sound artist Gisle Nataas presents his site-specific work Architecture as Instrument / Knut Hamsun Centre on Hamarøy.
Read more about the performance here.

Split concert with Norway/Slovakia
Saturday, October 10
Where: The Hamsun Centre
When: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Split concert with Slovakia/Norway: Music and art help shape democracies!
Read more about the performance here.