LEFIFI TLADI (poet, painter and musician) explains how aesthetics are formed by the alertness of the senses. He engages some young poets, comparing conditions of his youth and now, and speaks of the importance of preparing work for programmes versus events. We see him in his studio where he talks about indigenous knowledge in relation to his paintings, and the important role of women in pre-industrial and cave painting.

He stresses the importance of studying in order to read art and interpret music. All of this knowledge was accumulated by him over a seven-decade life of independent thought and artistic expression. As a young person he influenced the cultural thinking of the Black Consciousness Movement, and today still encourages young people to explore their African aesthetic roots.