João Donato

Stories of Mozambique, told in clay

João Donato was born in Maputo in 1953. Self-taught, he came to ceramics in 2002, in Brasília, under the master ceramicist Cecy Sato; in 2005 he moved to London, where he studied with Daphne Carnegy at City and Islington College and worked as a ceramics technician until 2011, when he returned to Maputo, where he lives and works.

His exhibitions include Histórias no Matope (Mozambican Photography Association, 2013), the Núcleo de Arte (2014), a solo show of ceramics at the Fernando Leite Couto Foundation (2016), the Colectiva Kulungwana (2017) — alongside Ídasse — and 8 Mãos — Cerâmica, with Titos Pelembe, Marcos Muthewuye and Celestino Mudaulane. In 2018 he showed at the Johannesburg Art Fair with Galeria Arted'Gema.

With the writer António Cabrita he published O Blue da Majika, born of his ceramic series As Testemunhas Cegas. Recent exhibitions include Itinerários (Camões — Centro Cultural Português, Maputo, 2020), shows in Coimbra and Caldas da Rainha (2021–22), O Chapa de Milão (CCP Maputo, 2022) and Perdi as Cores com a Guerra (Galeria Vulcano, Maputo, 2026).