Painted on a black background, with green eyes and crimson skin, I gaze on the portrait Turning Point, by Craig Cameron, hanging next to a photograph of the same subject. Both were on display at the Youngblood Gallery in Cape Town, at the Unmute ArtsAbility Festival, which ran through December.

In Cape Town, on the first Thursday of the month, art galleries and other cultural attractions stay open till late. This started in 2012 with six art galleries, and has grown into one of the city’s foremost cultural experiences, attracting thousands of people every month.

Craig discovered he was colour blind when he was 19; he had been painting since his early teens. Although he had been working closely with successful painters in South Africa like Esias Bosch and Keith Alexander, he quit painting.

He tried his hand at film making, and years later decided to pick up the brush again. He then painted a smaller version of Turning Point, which is in his apartment. “Turning Point is a reminder that being colour blind shouldn’t stop me from creating art,” said Craig.

Hannah Yason’s work was also on display. Using oil and sand on canvas, she created Come to your Senses and Internal Horizon with her fingers.

Hiten Bawa, a deaf architect who also is a fine artist, also had his work on display. I admired the rich texture and precision in the Raksha Series 1, in which he uses pilot pigment, inkpens, string and beads on Fabiano canvas.

He says the work honours his roots in India.

At the AVA gallery, I found Siwa Mgoboza photographs titled Les Etres d’Africardia II. He used African fabrics (mostly vitenge) to make masks worn by his models.

I also visited the pan African market, which was set up in 1996. I saw five-foot tall masks from Cameroon, and brass statues that are more than a hundred years old from Benin.