An artist’s job is not simply to make something beautiful, but to tell stories no one else will tell, and to ask whether those already told were told well enough, according to Alexandra High School art teacher Lihle Nene.

That belief sits at the centre of Nene’s classroom work and was on display at the 6th Annual Sibandla Theatre Festival, held at the school on August 29. The festival, held under the theme ‘Echoes of distortion’, brought together Alex High learners and the community for a day of drama, music, dance and visual art to reconnect with South African history.

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Speaking after the festival, Nene said an artist cannot conform to the status quo. He believes art is a duty as much as an expression. “Artists need to always be the voice of those who can’t speak. At the same time, they have to educate society. An artist has to be someone who is well informed.”

He acknowledged that this demanding standard positions the artist not as an entertainer, but as a witness and teacher obligated to understand what they represent before presenting it.

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He said that in a society with propaganda driven by an increasing number of influencers, an artist has a non-negotiable responsibility to think critically about societal issues. He added that art plays an imperative role in a learner’s development. “Art challenges a learner to shy away from just taking what is presented as it is.

There is always propaganda, there is always influence, but for an art learner, art makes them lean back and view those issues critically without taking them as they are.”

He said art opens a learner’s mind and prompts them to ask questions — a skill he considers essential in a world saturated with competing narratives.

Nene’s philosophy found clear expression in this year’s Sibandla Theatre Festival, now in its sixth year. The festival invited learners to examine the fragmented pieces of South Africa’s past and how they continue to shape identity and behaviour. “We are talking about the broken pieces of the past. They are telling stories of what transpired in the past, and they are also trying to examine how that is affecting us today.”

Performances confronted land dispossession and the distortion of indigenous identity under colonial rule, a period Nene described as strategically engineered to reshape society. In doing so, the festival gave voice to those who could not speak for themselves and asked audiences to reckon with stories left unfinished or poorly told.

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