“Honored members of the Academy! You have done me the honor of inviting me to give you an account of the life I formerly led as an ape.”

Whatever the speaking creature in Franz Kafka’s 1917 A Report to an Academy may be – he is back! And he is going to actually meet you, and tell you something about reality today.

Peter is Back is a live meeting between the artist Amir Yatziv and a CGI avatar, brought to life using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Peter can follow a script while improvising and responding to the conversation as it unfolds. How apish someone can be – you’ll have to see for yourself. The artist and his intangible character talk about life, the journey into humanness, and post-humanness.

But you see, there is no magic here, the mechanism is exposed, and you are invited to take part in the cross-species conversation. Try to come as open and tolerant as possible, things could get wild, you know.

Amir Yatziv was born in 1972, and is a filmmaker, theatre creator, and visual artist based in Tel Aviv. His works deal with past narratives and their contemporary interpretation, exposing the impossibility of a single coherent historical truth. Yatziv collects fragments of stories and testimonies, reassembling them into poetic, yet critical, experiences.

In recent years, his practice has focused mainly on live theatre performances that combine technology, artificial intelligence, and new forms of narrative. Using these tools, Yatziv explores the human condition, creating unstable yet vital spaces where memory, technology, and presence collide. These works have been presented at theatres and festivals across Israel and Europe, including Germany, Poland, and Norway.

He is a graduate of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, and UDK Berlin, and his works and films have also been shown internationally in museums and film festivals.