Previously, Ilves has worked as the curator of contemporary art at the Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, where she was in charge of the contemporary art gallery and curated both solo shows and research-based projects.
She curated the solo exhibition If Only You Can See What I’ve Seen with Your Eyes that displayed works by Katja Novitskova at the Estonian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017. In 2018, Ilves curated an international group show Ascending from the Liquid Horizon at the le lieu unique in Nantes, France. She has also successfully worked with rap artist Tommy Cash and fashion designer Rick Owens in her curatorial practice. Ilves holds a Master’s Degree in Art History from the Estonian Academy of Art, and she has studied literature and film at Paris 8 University. In 2015, she participated in the Curatorial Intensive, organized by the ICI in New York and she was also the participant in the Curatorial Programme 2016–17 at de Appel in Amsterdam.