On one of the world\'s most remote islands, Ryan Enslin discovers that the key to St Helena\'s spirit is found at the table.

The spoon carried a warmth I immediately sensed was both familiar and strange. Sweet earth lingered first, then a smokey essence, faint yet somewhat elusive, drawn from a memory older than my own. What lay on the plate before me unfolded slowly into something layered, alive with echoes of dishes cooked long before I arrived on these shores.

It was a risotto, though not the kind I had known elsewhere. Here on St Helena Island, midway between Africa and South America, it carried within it the heart of the island’s pumpkin stew, folded into grains that seemingly worked their magic on the construct of time itself. And, in that moment, I realised how best to read the soul of one of the most remote places on earth.

Not through the stone walls of forts or the country lanes winding endlessly across volcanic cliffs, but through what was set before me at the table. After nearly a decade of longing to reach this faraway place, I was beginning to taste her truths in ways no map or monument could have revealed.

Johannesburg’s winter can be deceptive. At the end of August, when the Contra.Joburg Art Festival unfurled across the inner city, the air was unseasonably warm. Sunshine streamed through studio windows and art spilled into streets alive with encounters. Behind the performances and open workspaces, another quiet innovation was underway, one that may prove as transformative.

For the first time, Contra.Joburg partnered with Africa Collect, a financial platform built to enable emerging collectors to pay for artworks over time. What seemed like a small detail revealed itself as a paradigm shift, and the circle of who can own art widened.

Sure, fintech, at its heart, is simply technology reshaping how we handle money. How it’s accessed, moved, managed and invested. Applied to art, it restructures time. With Africa Collect’s model, instead of requiring a lump sum, a collector secures a piece with a deposit and pays the balance over six or twelve months. For artists, the sale is confirmed and cash flow immediate. For buyers, the price becomes a rhythm rather than a wall.