Maanarak of Grey on de-commodifying creativity and invitations for flow

Making livelihoods from artistic passions is essential for sustaining art communities and preserving the art itself, but many artists find the joy of creating being lost within the struggles of survivorship and power imbalances of our capitalistic world. What can de-commodifying creativity look like for artists seeking more fluidity and joy-making in their creation processes but also balancing their business needs?

This month, we bring back to the space the wonderful Maanarak of Grey, the artistic alias of Radinka Ustasia, a multidisciplinary artist from the Caribbean island of Bonaire. From 2010-2023 Maanarak has lived, studied, and worked in the Netherlands, with the highest qualification she obtained there being a Bachelors of Science in International Development Management, majoring in Rural Development and Innovation, at Van Hall Larenstein in Velp. During her study program, she minored in Art and Creativity at work and this is where she started an exploration of combining her competing passions. 

In this episode, we extend from the previous episode's themes of artistic expression and playfulness in activism and development to explore the ways in which we can balance capitalistic tendencies to monetise joy and basic financial needs in our lives, and challenge urges to perfect and structure as a way to expand our limitless imaginations.

Connect with Maanarak on Instagram (@maanarak.art).

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