Meet Luanda

Heartist, Luanda Mayakiso

Dear Friends,

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Luanda Mayakiso. He is 20 something, lives at the foot of the Hogsback mountains in a rural village called Aukland and he is a ceramic artist and entrepreneur. Not only that – you should see his veggie garden!

Luanda travels up the Hogsback pass to sell his wares and produce as well as to participate in jobs anyone has for him. Never have I heard him complain – instead, when we chat about our hopes and dreams, I discover that he has a quiet passion for his community and wants to make a difference.


Luanda would very much like to share his love for ceramic arts with youth from the community. He tells me that there isn’t much for the youth to do and many of his peers end up drinking to pass the time. One can see his concern when he talks about the youngsters who seem to be falling into a cycle of hopelessness – and the glint in his eyes when we imagine the possibility of creating a future for the next generation that honours their unique gifts and talents.


Luanda sells his creations from the Heart Space shop and has become well known and loved in Hogsback over the years. His work is unique, with a whimsical quality and bright colours. He enjoys portraying aspects of everyday life: men on their horses, baboons and hogs that are well known to the area and paintings of women in the fields and children herding cows on coffee mugs.He also creates bright and beautifully hand sculpted vases, depicting the wild life of our continent.

hand painted and fired hog

cheeky baboons

man and his horse

In the future, Luanda would like to teach his skills to the youth and help them become creative, expressive and happy individuals. We support Luanda wholeheartedly and would like to see his talent celebrated and shared.

If you would like to show your support, please consider visiting our online fundraising campaign page and leaving a comment in the COMMENTS section of that page. This will boost our GO-GO factor and gain us more exposure.

Thanks for stopping by - we appreciate your time and energy :)