Small Is Good

The concept “small” is relative. To what and to whom is small, small? There is not always of course a logical explanation. From a human perspective, small, could be understood in proportion to our own height. A table can appear huge to a little child trying to reach up to it. A skyscraper can seem small beside a high mountain. A bee so much smaller than an elephant can still have much more impact. We tend to like small things, we think they are cute, but why? Take a baby lion for example, we don’t need to be afraid, there’s no way it can harm us. Small, might be easier to control, easier to understand and it might also be enough.

Everything that turns out great starts as something small; a drop of water can become a lake. Tiny things can create a domino effect. Small microorganisms; bacteria, viruses, plankton, things that we can only see with a microscope, can have cataclysmic effects just as a slight inconvenience can turn into a major problem. The stars in the sky may seem very small to us but in fact they are colossal dust clouds. Their distance from us is so great that we don’t measure it in kilometers but in light-years. When we look at something very closely it might look so huge so that it can change its meaning. Small things can help people and even change people’s lives. Tiny things can help disabled people. We tend to focus too much on small and unnecessary things. But something as small as a smile can make us happy in a more profound way than a belly laugh.

The theme of the 3rd Istanbul Youth and Children Art Biennial is designated as “Small Is Good”. Through a variety of art disciplines, the aim is that children and young people will develop new perspectives, think and imagine without borders.

Small steps can lead us far away and to unexpected wonders.

Curators: Maria Sezer, Leyla Sakpınar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gülçin Özdemir Aksoy and Kader Akçay