promp.td > 1.0_ A Retrospective on a Digital Turning Point

promp.td > 1.0_ A Retrospective on a Digital Turning Point

By Fatma Koraichi
Curator of the Exhibition

From 19 to 26 February 2023, promp.td > 1.0_ marked a significant moment in Tunisia’s contemporary art landscape. Hosted at Saf Saf in La Marsa, within the cultural space of Saf Saf, the exhibition brought together digital experimentation, artificial intelligence, and collective curiosity at a time when AI in art was still emerging locally.

Looking back, the exhibition now feels like a threshold — a moment when dialogue began shifting from “What is AI?” to “What can we create with it?”

A Curatorial Vision Rooted in Transformation

The conceptual foundation of promp.td > 1.0_ was inspired by the famous phrase of Antoine de Lavoisier:
“Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme.”
Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.

This idea resonated deeply with the nature of artificial intelligence. AI does not create from emptiness; it transforms, recomposes, reinterprets. It processes memory — visual, cultural, historical — and generates new forms from existing fragments.

Alongside this scientific perspective was the poetic reminder from Hubert Reeves:
“Nous sommes tous des poussières d’étoiles.”
We are all stardust.

Between science and poetry, data and memory, the exhibition unfolded as a reflection on how technology mirrors the human condition: we, too, are made of accumulated histories, influences, and transformations.

Icons, Memory & AI Interpretation

The artworks presented during promp.td > 1.0_ explored cultural memory through the lens of artificial intelligence. Referencing musical icons from pop, jazz, and rock, the pieces did not replicate familiar imagery — they reimagined it.

Using AI software and generative tools such as MidJourney and other digital platforms, artists experimented with prompts as creative catalysts. The “prompt” became a new brushstroke, a new compositional gesture. The result was a series of digital works that felt both nostalgic and futuristic — suspended between past and possibility.

The exhibition questioned:

  • Where does authorship reside when machine and human collaborate?

  • Is AI a tool, a medium, or a co-creator?

  • How does digital transformation reshape collective memory?

These questions did not demand fixed answers; they opened space for reflection.

Conferences & Workshops: Demystifying AI

A key dimension of the exhibition was its educational and participatory programming. Conferences and workshops accompanied the show, offering the public insight into how AI tools function in artistic practice.

These sessions explored:

  • The logic behind prompts

  • The role of datasets

  • The creative unpredictability of generative systems

  • Ethical and aesthetic considerations of AI in art

What made the experience particularly meaningful was the diversity of the audience — artists, students, collectors, technologists, and curious visitors. The conversations were dynamic, sometimes skeptical, often enthusiastic, but always engaged.

A Cultural Milestone

Today, reflecting on promp.td > 1.0_, I see it as more than an exhibition. It was a starting point — a declaration that Tunisia’s art scene is ready to engage with global digital transformations while maintaining its intellectual depth and poetic sensitivity.

As curator, the project was both a challenge and a responsibility: to introduce AI not as a threat to artistic authenticity, but as a continuation of art’s long history of embracing new tools — from oil paint to photography, from video art to NFTs.

Art evolves because artists evolve. And artists evolve because society evolves.

promp.td > 1.0_ was a moment of transformation — and transformation, as we know, is the very essence of creation.

Marhbé bikom — thank you to everyone who was part of this journey. The dialogue continues.

 

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