These precious little stones are all around us: from our plastic yet fantastic knock offs around our fingers to the iconic song performance by Marilyn Monroe – diamonds are definitely a collegiettes best friend! With your jewelry box filled with cherished family heirlooms, have you ever pondered who are the unique craftsmen behind these stunning pieces of art? To answer this question, Her Campus Helsinki visited the most shimmering jewelry exhibition in Helsinki at the moment: Brilliant! by the national museum of Finland.
Brilliant! offers a rare overview on the Finnish jewelry design from the early sixties to the present day with an eclectic assembly of works that bridge the gap between fine art and stunning jewelry. With a great variety of photographs and audio records, the exhibition shows the immense craftsmanship and pure talent of many award-winning goldsmiths such as Esko Lindroos and Carina Blomqvist.Â
While taking in the exhibition, you will no doubt start to reflect upon your own relationship with these little rocks, which seem oddly distant and remote without all the treasured memories and feelings we attach to them every day. Thus during the exhibit you begin to see that pieces of jewelry are not only masterpieces of aesthetic craftsmanship, but also cherished gifts passed along by generations to come. A collegiette quickly comes to the realization that pieces of jewelry are powerful in that they tell never-ending stories to us about beautiful weddings, joyful graduation days and of lost loved ones without even saying a single word. These are only a fraction of the many stories told by the inspiring dialogue between the photographs of the jewelry taken by Susanna Majuri and the viewer of the exhibition.
Therefore Brilliant! is the perfect opportunity for you to find glamour and beauty amidst the harsh Finnish winter. Not only will you discover boundless elegance, interesting history and excellent craftsmanship, but you also learn how to separate a cheap forgery from a priceless masterpiece – practical, yet inspirational all in the same package! So next time when you’re searching for the perfect inspiration for your outfit or you just want be dazzled by priceless earrings, bracelets and necklaces, try the exhibition Brilliant! which is by far Helsinki’s brightest diamond at the moment!
4 shiny diamonds out of 5
The exhibition Brilliant! will be on display until January 31, 2016 at the National Museum of Finland.