The SMQ rewards ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life
From left to right: Isabelle Genest, Director of the Musée ilnu de Mashteuiatsh and member of the jury; Jacques Des Rochers, Senior Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art; Léuli Eshrāghi, Curator of Indigenous Practices; and asinnajaq, artist and guest curator, at the 2025 SMQ award ceremony, held in Montreal on October 9, 2025. Photo MMFA
The MMFA is proud to announce that the jury for the 2025 SMQ (Société des musées du Québec) awards has presented it with the Prix Télé-Québec – Coup de cœur du jury for ᐆᒻᒪᖁᑎᒃ uummaqutik: essence of life.
Conceived by Inuk artist and curator asinnajaq, in collaboration with Jacques Des Rochers, Senior Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art, and Léuli Eshrāghi, Curator of Indigenous Practices, at the MMFA, this presentation of the Museum’s Inuit art collection prompts us to meditate on the rhythms of life particular to the circumpolar territories known together as Inuit Nunangat (Inuit homelands in Canada).
On view on the ground floor of the Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion, it brings together a selection of works dating from 1949 to today that demonstrate the richness and diversity of contemporary Inuit artistic expression.
Given every year, the SMQ awards are intended to acknowledge, stimulate and reward excellence in the museum sector in Quebec and to pay tribute to achievements that have made a meaningful contribution to the advancement of museum practice in the province.
The MMFA thanks the jury of the SMQ awards and congratulates asinnajaq and the members of its team for this award.
