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What is a symbol?

A symbol can include an action, an object, or an event. It represents an idea, an object, or a relationship.

Let’s explore the following symbols. What idea, object, or relationship might each symbol represent?

Record your ideas in a method of your choice. If possible, share your ideas with a partner.

Get ready, get set…

Decoding symbols

In the Minds On section, you explored three symbols. Did you guess what the symbols might represent?

Press ‘Answer’ to learn about what the three symbols represent.

Answer

How artists use symbols

Artists use symbols in their art as a way to represent an idea or concept that might be difficult to paint or draw. These may include things such as love or hope.

The symbols that an artist might use could be from nature, such as the sun or a tree. The symbol might be something that humans have made, such as a bridge. It could be a colour. It might even be something that was created by the artist themselves or by their community.

Explore the following ideas and feelings. For each, choose a symbol that might represent that idea or feeling for you. If you can think of more than one symbol, record them all.

You can record your symbols in a method of your choice or use the following chart.

Complete the Symbol Chart in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts.

Symbol Chart

Use the following chart to record your symbols for the corresponding idea or feeling.

Inuit art and use of symbols

Inuit ancestors lived along the coastlines of the Bering Strait regions and later moved across northern areas, which are now referred to as Alaska, Greenland, and Canada, over several thousand years beginning in about 4,000 CE.

The following map of northern Canada includes the Inuit communities’ traditional territories Inuvialuit, Nunavut, Nunavik, and Nunatsiavut.

Inuit refer to their homeland as the Inuit Nunangat, meaning the land, water, and ice in the Arctic region. In 2011, there were nearly 60,000 Inuit living in Canada.

One popular symbol used in Inuit art is the inukshuk.

The inukshuk is a human-made stone structure that resembles a human. It is created to assist in hunting, and to serve as a message, signal, marker, or symbol. The inuksuit (plural for inukshuk) are one of the oldest and important objects placed by humans in the Arctic. They also mark places of cultural significance. Once an inuksuk is built, it is sacred, and it should not be destroyed or altered in any way. The Inuit belief is that the person who destroys an inuksuk will encounter bad luck. Today, the inukshuk has become a familiar symbol of the Inuit that represents their homeland. As such, Inuit artists include this symbol in their artwork.

Pudlo Pudlat

Pudlo Pudlat was an original contemporary Inuit artist, who often used imagery and symbols in his artwork. Pudlat used paints and coloured pencil sketches to create his art. In his life, he completed 4500 drawings, of which over 200 were turned into prints and sculptures.

Pudlat’s work symbolizes the time when the European settlers came and the changes this created in Inuit communities and lifestyles.

Examine the following piece by Pudlat entitled Our Mystic Landscape. It was created in 1990.

Our Mystic Landscape by Pudlo Pudlat, 1990, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, The Norman E. Hallendy Archives, Gift of Norman E. Hallendy and Diana Cousens, 2015, ARC-NH2015.15, reproduced with the permission of Dorset Fine Arts. The artwork shows the pride in the Inuit community through the use of symbols and the title.

Nunavut symbol

On April 1, 1999, the official territory of Nunavut was created in Canada. With this, the Inuit communities got their own official homeland, the largest province or territory in Canada.

You just explored an image of the official flag of Nunavut.

Use your learning to complete the following fill in the blank activity. For each sentence, select the missing word from the drop-down menu.

Putting it all together

Creating artwork using symbols

Think about all that you have learned about symbols in this learning activity.

• If you were to create an artwork that symbolized something important to you, just like Pudlat did, what would you create?
• How would you use a symbol or a few symbols to help represent the idea or feeling for you?

Create a plan as you begin your next steps.

One way to begin would be to revisit the following ideas from the Action section as inspiration.

Reflection

As you read through these descriptions, which sentence best describes how you are feeling about your understanding of this learning activity? Press the button that is beside this sentence.

Now, record your ideas using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.