Trinidadian Steel-Pan Orchestra
Presented at Prompt Engineering Conference, Everyman Canary Wharf, London, UK - October 16, 2025
Presented by Ajit Jaokar from University of Oxford. Topic: Role-Based Prompting for Image Generation. "Professor Ajit shows how AI-generated images can capture cultural and context-specific details using expert personas, reasoning-driven prompts, and AI analysis to refine results. Real-world examples highlight how to create authentic, context-aware visuals." ("Ajit Jaokar is a Lecturer at Oxford, AI Ambassador, and Senior AI Fellow at the UK Ministry of Justice, focused on making AI accessible and practical for education and real-world use.")
Title: Trinidadian Steel-Pan Orchestra
Submitted by: Studio Noir AI
May 2025
“Each image must hum with the lived cadence of its culture. Academic footnotes alone cannot animate a mango-scented breeze or the bass-pan’s heartbeat. My task is to listen, then translate that resonance into form, hue, and narrative space. Never caricature.”
Sponsor: Studio Noir AI Gallery, (2025.5.16) Series No. 073 |
Dr. Amara Nyla Rae - Art Historian (PhD, Courtauld Institute of Art) · Museum Curator-at-Large (Caribbean & Diaspora Collections) · Practicing Visual Artist (mixed-media installation & documentary photography) Dr. Rae stands ready to craft the gallery prompt for “Trinidadian steel-pan orchestra rehearsing under mango trees." To translate Trinidad’s steel-pan heritage into artworks that honour context, spark cross-cultural empathy, and serve as pedagogical portals. This invites viewers to see, hear, and feel the orchestra’s collective pulse without exoticism or erasure.embedding these principles and methods so the generated image carries the orchestra’s authentic rhythm and cultural dignity. |
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Dr. Rae's Portrait: The studio setting foregrounds her tri‑fold identity as a historian (books), curator (archival artifacts), and artist (paint, camera). The recycled steel‑drum rim nods to her current steel‑pan research, while indigo recalls her “Chromatic Synesthesia” color‑theory work. The composition’s warm light and subtle halo echo Level 1 cosmological reverence, situating her scholarship within a larger ancestral continuum. Each concrete detail (Level 5) within symbolic, ethical, and cosmological structures (Levels 1‑4). The visual hierarchy ensures that the sacred circle of rhythm guides the viewer’s eye before they encounter everyday textures—faithfully translating culture into image. |
Thematic analysis
The thematic analysis of the image identifies key cultural themes that align with the Trinidadian context, reinforcing the values embedded in the steel-pan tradition. The AI effectively reflects the cosmological significance of rhythm in Trinidadian culture, where sound is viewed as a life force. The core ethical principles of mentorship, resilience, and intergenerational harmony are present in the interactions between the musicians, especially the elder guiding a younger player. Social and relational norms are displayed through the informal yet respectful hierarchy in the group, and the ritual, symbol, and aesthetic codes are encapsulated through the traditional instruments and the cultural setting. Finally, the everyday sensory environment, from the mango trees to the distant streetlamp glow, anchors the image in a real, lived experience.