What reminds you of the Baltic Way?

Or maybe you have a photo where you stand hand-in-hand in the human chain or one with your car in the traffic jam heading for the Baltic Way. All these souvenirs are important documents of an extraordinary historic event which we all made happen. We made history.

A new project from Europeana, Europe's digital library, museum and archive, is organising collection days in the three Baltic States. Lithuanians are asked to bring their stories, photos and memorabilia from the Baltic Way to be digitised at the collection days at the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) in Vilnius on 9-10 August and in Panevezys G.Petkevicaite-Bite library on 13 August. These events are being organised by the Lithuanian National Library.

The Baltic Way was the biggest peaceful demonstrations in history. Some 2 million people joined hands to form a 600 km human chain that linked the three Baltic States in their quest for freedom and independence. The Baltic Way and the remarkable collective action of ordinary people were recognised by the world by their inclusion into the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Europeana 1989 not only aims to digitise memorabilia and preserve these important memories for years to come, but also to reconstruct the Baltic Way on a virtual map. Those who participated in the Baltic Way are encouraged to pin a picture at the exact location on the Baltic Way map at www.europeana1989.eu.

Jon Purday, Europeana Head of Communications, said: 'The Baltic Way protesters experienced dramatic changes and were part of historic events in Eastern Europe. You must be proud to have participated in the biggest peaceful demonstration in the world and we want to help you to collect and share your memories.'

'The Baltic Way is one of the most beautiful events on the Lithuanian path to freedom and an extraordinary manifestation of human brotherhood. These feelings are always needed, and nowadays even more,' said Vytautas Landsbergis, the Europeana project ambassador in Lithuania. 'I hope that through the Europeana 1989 project, the Lithuanian people will be happy to share their memories with future generations of the world. After all, people who took part in the Baltic Way remember it very well and have saved a lot of memorabilia. Let them be cherished and shown to the children and grandchildren. Let the stories be told. Even if only a small fraction of these memories will remain and will be passed on to others, they are very significant.'

In 2014, the world will celebrate the 25th anniversary of an extraordinary year - 1989 - when walls crumbled and the people of Europe were united again. Europeana 1989 will document the changes that took place in 1989 in Lithuania, the Baltics and the former Eastern bloc countries. The project was launched in Warsaw, Poland, in June this year and aims to create a vivid picture of the revolutionary events in Europe with stories, photos, videos and sound recordings. Personal stories, memories and experiences can help to see history from different perspectives.
 
Notes for editors

Collection Days
We will make digital copies of people's memorabilia of 1989. People can bring photographs, sound and video recordings, leaflets, letters and other memorabilia and expert staff will be on hand to digitise them and to record the stories that go with them. Europeana and the project partners will then upload them to the Europeana1989.eu website for future generations. The original items will remain with the contributors.

Collection days in the Baltics will be:
•    9-10 August, 10:00-18:00, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas, Gedimino ave 52, Vilnius
•    13 August, 10:00-18:00, G.Petkevicaite-Bite library, Respublika str. 14, Panevezys,
•    23-24 August, 12:00–20:00 Riga 2014 Information space Esplanade park, Riga
•    30-31 August, 10:00-18:00, National Library of Estonia, Tonismagi 2, Tallinn

Anyone unable to go to a collection day can contribute their memories online. It's simple. Just register at www.europeana1989.eu and upload your photos and other items along with the stories that go with them.
 
For more information contact:
Egita Veblauskaitė – 'Consensus PR'
+370 699 975 94
egita@consensuspr.lt

Frank Drauschke – Facts & Files
+49 (0)163 4809862
drauschke@factsandfiles.com

Jon Purday – Europeana
+44 (0) 7885 516234
jonathan.purday@bl.uk
 
About Europeana 1989
In 2014, the world will celebrate the 25th anniversary of an extraordinary year - 1989 - when walls crumbled and the people of Europe were united again. The Europeana 1989 project asks people from every country involved to digitise their own stories, photos, videos and sound recordings of 1989. The result will be a fascinating archive for present and future generations that can be explored for learning, personal interest and research work. Europeana 1989 is collaboration between eleven partner institutions, Historypin and the Europeana Foundation.
www.europeana1989.eu

About Europeana
The Europeana 1989 project is part of something much bigger – Europeana (www.europeana.eu), Europe's digital library, museum and archive. Europeana collects and provides access to digitised material from libraries, archives, audiovisual archives and museums. It has more than 2,200 collaborating institutions and the website is available in 29 European languages. Europeana allows the public to discover and explore the cultural and intellectual heritage of Europe through a simple search engine and virtual exhibitions. Since its launch by the European Commission in November 2008, Europeana has grown to include 29 million documents and heritage works. All the stories and objects collected by Europeana 1989 will also be made available through www.europeana.eu

About Historypin
Europeana and Historypin formed a strategic partnership to provide an innovative platform for the project website of Europeana 1989. Europeana1989.eu is hosted within the framework of Historypin and will make use of its technologies.
Historypin sets out to bring people together around the history of their families and streets, from across different generations and cultures, to explore and create a global communal archive, building up a picture of the past. Historypin.com allows users to upload photos, videos, audio recordings, and stories and pin them to a particular date and time on the Historypin map of the world. Street level images and videos can be also be overlaid onto Google Maps Street View on the Historypin site for a fascinating and nostalgic then-and-now juxtaposition. Historypin is a not-for-profit project that supports its development through grants and sponsorship.