The collection exists thanks to Kolář’s friendships with artists and reflects his personal taste. Kolář bought works directly from the artists and thus he supported them. Along with works from the second half of the twentieth century, Kolář also collected older works, which are part of the collection.

The Cornel Irimie Collection illustrates how ethnographers managed to negotiate the autonomy of their research activity with the communist state institutions and to conduct ethnographic research in contradiction with some of the official cultural policies. The collection includes more than 300 files of personal documents, student notes, field research notes and reports, drafts of academic works, acquisition reports, and exhibition drafts.