On November 7, the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design will open the exhibition “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 features more than 200 works created by Kadri Mälk (1958–2023), including jewellery, objects and sketches. In addition, it presents her collection of contemporary jewellery, amassed over the years, comprising around two hundred works by both well-known international and Estonian artists.

Kadri Mälk is among Estonia’s most internationally renowned jewellery artists, who has opened doors for many Estonian artists working today. Her multifaceted activity was dedicated to raising awareness of the nature, meaning, and scope of contemporary jewellery. The exhibition focuses both on the artist’s own creative work and on her role 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 journey spanned nearly 40 years, during which she produced around 500 pieces of jewellery and objects. Her jewellery is both vast and profound, rooted in an unshakable belief in the irresistible power of jewellery and in the will to capture and present it as existentially necessary. When viewed together for the first time, her body of work reveals a remarkable richness and versatility of expression, as well as an astonishing integrity. The tension between the artist’s imagination and the means of its realization creates a perceptible charge within the pieces, making them objects of intense emotion. Altogether, her creations are enigmatic, magical, and thrillingly beautiful.

What defines the phenomenon of Kadri Mälk’s jewellery art? It lies in a unity reminiscent of the magical realism of the 1920s in painting – characterized by existential, partly romantic emotional currents, powerful symbols, otherworldly colors, and the seemingly incongruous coexistence of all these elements. In Mälk’s jewellery, not only imagined and depicted shapes and formed structures function as symbols or triggers of meaning, but also the aesthetics and magical materiality of the materials themselves. Thus, one could say that her jewellery invites the viewer into a play of surprise, contemplation, and direct experience.

Exhibition curators: Krista Kodres, Kai Lobjakas
Curators of Kadri Mälk’s jewellery collection: Kristiina Laurits, Tanel Veenre
Exhibition designer: Pille Lausmäe
Graphic designer: Indrek Sirkel
Sound: 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

Special thanks to:
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.