A Little Show features modern and contemporary South African artworks by emerging and established artists who have chosen to or, at times, been forced to explore working on a small and even minute scale. The premise for this assembly of smaller scale objects comes from the desire to understand, and even to give in to, the sense of scaling down, retreating from and re-considering the massive and the gigantic in their overbearing manifestations, not just in art and architecture, but in wider experiences of everyday life, in local and international politics, in our relationship with the natural world.

The sense of impending disaster and the experiences of real ones that so many of humanity face now call for retreat to the inner world, to that which is essential, comforting, and trustworthy. Living in historical times has always come at a cost – grand historical narratives do not spare “the little man”, destroying his accumulations of worldly goods, status, and claims to consequence. Amassed riches get swept aside, grand palaces and gigantic monuments turn to rubble, and priceless art collections get looted or destroyed. What we choose to save in those moments is what matters and can often fit in the palm of one’s hand or in one’s pocket – a photograph, a small object, a memento of life lived and cherished.