Hi, my name is Yuro Zunaina Suragani Moniz.

Some people know me as Yoji the Monster, and a few call me “mama.”

I am a Rotterdam-based traditional ceramic artisan, specialized in hand-building through the coiling technique. My practice is rooted in an intrinsic human need: to leave something behind. Just as people have done since the beginning of time — through clay. Ceramics are how we trace human stories, long after everything else disappears. I want to contribute to that lineage and build a social and cultural legacy through the earth beneath our feet.

Clay is where it begins. Clay as Allah shaped mankind. Clay as Mother Earth, as Turtle Island. Clay as memory.

To do this work truthfully, I believe I must master traditional ways of making. The efficiency and wisdom embedded in non-Western craft traditions transcend time. My teachers are not institutions — they are people, places and practices that carry living knowledge. My life is my school: listening, learning, observing, asking questions, deep-diving, exchanging knowledge, and safeguarding the human ability to have a piece (and peace) of mind.

In a time when technology is catching up with people, I want to return to the essence of what makes us human.

What does it mean to make something with your bare hands and common sense?

Where is the human fingerprint, the energy of care, the presence in the objects we live with?

In 2019, I travelled to Icheon, South Korea, where I participated in the Onggi masterclass from Kwak Kyung Tae — a traditional Korean method of building large ceramic vessels by hand. I fell deeply in love with the craft, the rhythm, and the philosophy behind it. Since then, it has been my dream to return and truly master this practice.

Over the past years, I have built a substantial body of stoneware works — vases, pots and pillars — which have been shown in museums and galleries. Today, most of that work is stored in my home. In 2024, I lost both my house and my studio, along with stability I had worked years to build.

So now, I am choosing a very direct and honest path.

I am selling 75% of my existing work and offering ceramic workshops (1-on-1 and group sessions) to raise funds so I can invest in the Onggi Intensive Learning Residency in South Korea. This residency will allow me to deepen my craft and continue practicing what I believe in — creating monumental ceramic works that carry meaning, care, and stories of our time. Safeguarding human intelligence.

The total cost of the residency is €6,500.

Through this crowdfunding campaign, I aim to raise €3,000 to cover the first installment, which is needed to secure my place in July.

Your support helps me:

• Reserve my spot in the residency

• Invest directly in the educational development of my practice

• Carry living craft knowledge forward

• Create future monumental works rooted in tradition, care and humanity.

If you choose to support — financially, by sharing, or by attending a workshop — you are helping keep something deeply human alive and support your local artist.

Thank you for reading, supporting, and believing in human intelligence, living knowledge, and clay as memory.

Ps. Any donation is welcome. You don’t have to “buy” anything.

Many hands make light work.

Your Truly.

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