On November 7, the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design will open the exhibition “The Dark Sky of Imagination. Jewellery by Kadri Mälk”, which introduces one of the most influential figures and unique authors in Estonian contemporary jewellery art. The exhibition presents more than 200 works created by Kadri Mälk (1958–2023), including jewellery, objects and sketches. In addition, it showcases her collection of contemporary jewellery assembled over the years, comprising around two hundred works by both prominent international and Estonian artists.

Kadri Mälk is among Estonia’s most internationally renowned jewellery artists, who opened doors for many of today’s active Estonian creators. Her versatile work was dedicated to raising awareness of the nature, meaning, and reach of contemporary jewellery. The exhibition focuses on Kadri Mälk both as an artist and as a collector.

“Art already exists in the world. You just have to recognize it, ‘mark’ it, and make it visible. And in between lies a thorny path of methods and doubts, along which you stumble,”
–  Kadri Mälk, reflecting on her creative process.

Kadri Mälk’s creative path spanned nearly 40 years, during which she produced around 500 pieces of jewellery and objects. Her jewellery art is both vast and profound, grounded in her unwavering belief in the irresistible power of jewellery and her will to capture and present it as something existentially necessary. Seeing this creative legacy gathered together for the first time reveals the richness and diversity of the artist’s means of expression as well as the remarkable integrity of her entire oeuvre. The tension between the artist’s imagination and the means of its realization creates a perceptible charge within the works, making them intensely emotional objects. Altogether, her creations are enigmatic, magical, and strikingly beautiful.

What constitutes the phenomenon of Kadri Mälk’s jewellery art? It lies in a unity akin to the magical realism of the 1920s in painting – characterized by an existential, partly romantic emotional undercurrent, powerful symbols, otherworldly colors, and the seemingly incongruous coexistence of these elements. In Mälk’s jewellery, not only the imagined and depicted forms act as symbols or generators of meaning, but also the aesthetics and magical materiality of the materials themselves. Thus, one could say that her jewellery invites the viewer to join in a play of wonder, contemplation, and direct experience.

Exhibition curators: Krista Kodres, Kai Lobjakas
Curators of Kadri Mälk’s jewellery collection display: Kristiina Laurits, Tanel Veenre
Exhibition designer: Pille Lausmäe
Graphic designer: Indrek Sirkel
Sound design: Janek Murd
Language editor: Hille Saluäär
Translation: Refiner Translations
Exhibition team: Ketli Tiitsar, Toomas Übner, Birgit Tohter, Kristi Paap, Helen Adamson
Production: Valge Kuup Studio OÜ

Acknowledgements:
Mati Sirkel, Pekka Erelt, Ave Toots-Erelt, Liesbeth den Besten, Sirje Helme, Piret Hirv, Anu and Mart Kalm, Sirje Karis, Kai Konsap, Marianne Kõrver, Julia-Maria Künnap, Peeter Laurits, Tamara Luuk, Lylian Meister, Taso Mähar, Kaljo Mälk, Taivo Müürsepp, Kristi Paap, Helen Poll, Priidu Pärna, Tiit Pääsuke, Jüri Ross, Peeter Ross, Tiina Saidla, Jaanus Samma, Valdeko Sibul, Heiki Sirkel, Risto Tali, Kersti Tiik, Toomas Tiivel, Äli Tõnnov, Emil Urbel, Märt Vaidla, Hanna-Maria Vanaküla, Tanel Veenre, Estonian Academy of Arts, Foundation of the Estonian Artists’ Union.