Some maxims gain more importance than other dictums and adages with the passage of time. It also happens because more often than not the time they’re applied in appears to befit what the sayings hint at. In the 21st century, the word modern or modernist doesn’t have efficacy anymore, primarily because every passing moment a new technological development makes its presence felt (and doesn’t always surprise you).

The phrase ‘good things come in small packages’ contains different meanings for different people. The organisers of a recent exhibition with the same title at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi, may have had a certain form in mind, but what their effort for sure exhibited was a range of subjects that depicted the bigness of ostensibly trivial things and the frivolity of the apparently big issues.

The first piece that was put on display (Nosheen Iqbal; metal, plastic) represented the theme of time. This is an age-old subject whose freshness never goes away because over the centuries, time has been painted from a cruel tyrant to a great healer. With works such as ‘Greed’, ‘Need’, you know that the artist is touching upon the basic realities (not always palatable) of life.

S. M. Raza’s soap and human hair work was pretty intriguing. If the artist hadn’t used the word ‘human’, his endeavour in extracting meaning out of the banal would’ve proved even more effective.

Abdullah M. I. Syed’s ‘Forbidden fruit’ series using half unstitched cricket ball and Perspex reminded you of the (in)famous Shahid Afridi ball biting incident. The artist perhaps may have targeted other ‘big’ ideas with his unique try, but he clearly highlighted the avaricious trait associated with some high-profile individuals.

Simplicity never fails to impress. So Ammad Tahir’s nice pen-and-ink sketch of super model and super attractive Kate Moss was a tribute to her beauty and, in a manner of speaking, an attempt to look into her soul through her dreamy eyes and strike-a-pose posture.

Sahar Jawaid’s oil-on-canvas work with its bright splash of colours looked quite different from the rest of the lot at the exhibition mainly because of its sincerity in not trying to be different for the heck of it.

Conclusion: keep up the good work. However, think big!