Gimme Shelter: Home and protection

“There’s no place like home,” as we say in Norway. But is a home a place? A feeling? Or perhaps an idea? For most people, a home is an emotional sense of security and belonging.

Feeling at home is perhaps something we take for granted. At the same time, one of the biggest challenges in Tromsø is the housing shortage. Record-high prices, short-term rentals, and low housing construction mean that “the housing market is seriously messed up” (iTromsø, 22 January 2026). Who can actually afford to live in this “university town”?

The exhibition Gimme Shelter examines the concept of “home” through various works from the museum’s collection. The works showcase a wide range of approaches and different understandings of what the concept of home can mean.

Some of the works deal with nomadic homes and a fluid understanding of “home,” as in the Sámi proverb “It is better to be on a journey than to stay put at one place.”

At the same time, other works deal with the act of escaping and running away—when one must leave one’s home. They deal with trauma and memories, but also with love. Even in an apocalyptic existence, one can find hope.

As the Rolling Stones sing in “Gimme Shelter”: “...love, sister. It’s just a kiss away.”