Mērnieku laiki. Unfinished script for the third screen adaptation.

Mērnieku laiki [The Time of the Surveyors] by the Kaudzīte brothers is a timeless Latvian novel that can be read, re-read, but never completely read because each new reading reveals things previously overlooked or missed. To date, the novel has been reprinted at least 23 times in Latvia and abroad, has had around 30 stage versions performed in Latvia, and has been adapted for the big screen twice – in 1968 under the direction of Voldemārs Pūce and in 1991 under the direction of Varis Brasla, based on the original script by Alvis Lapiņš.

Each new interpretation of Mērnieku laiki takes place in that current ‘time of the surveyors’ – be it the surveying of land ordered by tsar Alexander II or during Soviet era collectivisation or privatisation and globalisation in a time of ecological and geopolitical upheaval. We are in an eternal “time of the surveyors” that never ends.

That is why this exhibition in which the two films and the novel meet is called “Mērnieku laiki. Unfinished script for the third screen adaptation”. The re-reading and re-interpretation of Mērnieku laiki for research, theatre, and cinema will never be done, closed, or final. Especially today, 146 years after the novel was written, as a great ‘re-surveying’ is taking place again and borders are being drawn, changed, violated, and built, both on maps and in people’s heads. Our Mērnieku laiki scenario is open and unfinished – its main purpose is not the result but the search for links and connections. It is also a story about changing borders, not only in real but also in “imaginary geography” – in the spaces of history, politics, culture, language, economic, and social environments by combining different experiences, knowledge, facts, events, and ideas in a single topography and looking for their points of contact with modern society.

Exhibition creators:

Curator Kristīne Želve, artist Ieva Stūre, researcher Ilona Miezīte, soundscape creator Maksims Šenteļevs, project leader Katrīna Kūkoja.

Creative team: 

Liega Piešiņa, Roberts Skrajāns, Kaspars Balamovskis, Ilze Cihovska, Juris Janševskis, Jānis Ķīkulis, Vizma Virse, Inga Malta, Annija Luīze Pentjuša, Elīna Kursīte, Gints Romanovskis, Emīlija Zobena.

Collection items were restored by: Agris Strautmanis un Jānis Vilšķērsts

Exhibition arrangers: Form Art Lab

Special thanks go to Varis Brasla, Alvis Lapiņš, Skaidra Deksne, Janta Meža, Līva Grudule; cinema test participants – Kristiāna, Gita, Vineta, Aleksandrs, Ilva, Uldis, Ina, Leonarda, Annija, Inga, Liega, Katrīna, and the modern Liena – Aija, Inese, Inga, Līna, Simona for sharing their personal experiences.

Exhibition materials:

Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music, Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents, Latvian State Archive, Riga Film Museum, Piebalga Museum Society Orisāre.

Paratners and supporters: Culture Capital Foundation, Valmiermuiža, Piebalga Museum Society Orisāre, Latvian Museum of Natural History, centre MARTA, broadcast Nobīde, SIA Eko Sēta Pluss.