Despite all Joburg's fractures, there has been a steady opening - an understanding that bringing people together matters. Culture grows stronger when it becomes porous rather than precious.

Overheard on opening night at what is arguably Joburg's warmest art fair: "Why should people be here for free?"

It landed oddly in a space built on proximity. Artists, collectors, patrons, journalists, curious first-timers, old friends and accidental attendees all rubbing shoulders in the way Joburg occasionally allows when its cultural life is working at its best.

The comment stayed with me because only a day earlier, at the memorial service of Maria McCloy, an extraordinary publicist and cultural connector, there was a similar feeling in the room. Different context, same city truth: worlds touching. People from vastly different circles, histories and means gathered around someone who had spent years stitching community together through generously creating access.

It made me think about access - and what happens when barriers are removed. Art, perhaps more than most worlds, is built on unequal relationships. The artist and the patron. The maker and the buyer. The emerging creative trying to survive in a city where cultural production is abundant but economic reward is uneven. Yet Joburg has always had a curious ability to collapse distance, if only for an evening.

Opening nights matter because they democratise proximity. They create moments where someone...