THE BALTIC WAY MEMORIAL RIGA/LETTLAND
THE BALTIC WAY was a non-violent protest against the PACT of 1939 between Vyacheslav MOLOTOV
(Soviet Union) and Joachim von RIBBENTROP (Deutsches Reich). Two million people joined hands
and formed a human chain over six hundred kilometers across the three Baltic States of Estonia, Lithuania
and Latvia.
The Baltic Way Memorial is located close to where the human chain happened. The long form of the
building resembles the length of the chain. One end is buried into the ground: in this part, the Dark Past
is exhibited. In contrast, the other, longer part of the building houses the Bright Exhibition. It lifts up high
into the sky, carried by pillars of steel that stand as a symbol for the people of the chain. The bright
window at the top offers a view over the route where the people stood in 1989. Ramps and seating
steps lead the path under the earth to enter the Monument. Below the ground are a café, restrooms,
an office and the souvenir shop which is also the entrance of the exhibition. From the Souvenir shop
to the bright viewing window, the exhibition has a length of 600 feet, one foot for every kilometer of the
human chain. The bright exhibition includes pieces of the freedom movement and the ligh installation
of Year´s Day, the dark exhibition, however, contains only the Molotov / Ribbentrop PACT. Parking
areas are on the University side, to not interrupt the monumental view from the Daugava side as well
accessing the parking areas to the University.
The façade consists of concrete and 2 million opalescence glass prisms, according to the number of
participants, that conduct the light and thermal energy to the inside of the Bright Exhibition.
