Baltic Way exhibition in London

Twenty years ago, far behind the Iron Curtain and two months prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, some two million Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians joined hands to create a 600km long human chain in a peaceful protest. One of the longest chains in history, it extended from the foot of Toompea in Tallinn to the foot of the Gediminas Tower in Vilnius, crossing Riga and the Daugava river on the way.

It expressed the joint determination of the people of the Baltic nations to assert their identity and contribute peacefully to the changes in European history then emerging.

It was the "Baltic way" to remind the world about the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet-Nazi agreement instigated by Stalin and Hitler that sealed the fate of Europe and affected the entire world. This pact, and the secret clauses it contained, divided Europe in two spheres of influence: USSR and Germany, which led to World War II and resulted in the three Baltic States being erased from maps.

Paying tribute to all those who joined hands to express their will and solidarity, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said: "The 'Baltic Way' will remain in our memories as a proof of the strength of the human spirit in its fight for freedom and democracy".

At the end of July 2009 the Baltic Way was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

To commemorate the event, a video exhibition organised by the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the UK will be launched at the Representation's office on Tuesday, 25 August.

Footage will include both official and private sources, some of which is being shown for the first time, documenting the "Baltic Way" from different perspectives, including close-ups of those involved, rituals, life-styles.

The exhibition runs until 4 September 2009

More exhibitions in 2009