The Avataq Cultural Institute has three complementary collections: the Nunavik archaeology collections, a documentary archive, and a Nunavik Inuit art and ethnography collection.
Nunavik’s tangible and intangible heritage are thoroughly expressed and well represented through the Institute’s three complementary collections.
The Avataq Archaeology Collection is primarily comprised of the results of fieldwork conducted annually by the Institute’s archaeologists. As the collection grows it constructs an increasingly precise portrait of the human presence in Nunavik from the arrival of the Palaeoeskimos some 4,000 years ago to the arrival of the Thule people, direct ancestors of the region’s Inuit.
Through its documentary archives, the Institute traces the history of Nunavik’s Inuit (Nunavimmiut). The core of the archive is a vast collection of textual and audio documents. There is also an extensive visual collection comprised mainly of photographs depicting Nunavimmiut daily life and the rapid, radical changes that have been transforming the region for over a century.
Lastly, the Nunavik Inuit Art Collection is a remarkable window on Nunavimmiut cultural expression. This large collection inspires wonderment at the diversity, practicality and ingenuity of Inuit material culture. The aesthetic qualities of the pieces in the collection, whether sculptures or graphical works, bear witness to the creativity and interpretive power of the Nunavimmiut imagination.
