#79 Maanarak of Grey on de-commodifying creativity and invitations for flow
“If you have the privilege to take free time take it, but also question where that voice is coming from that you need to commodify everything. I think that is a radical act within itself to say right now I will relax and try to find ways to grow myself from within that is not necessarily just to develop for work. Paradoxically, it will in the end help you in your career because you’ve taken that time away from stressing about work to come back to yourself and [in that way] you go back refreshed and in a state of mind that maybe helps you excel more at work than when you’re constantly stressing about work and having to make money.”
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 themes of artistic expression and playfulness in activism and development from the previous episode to explore the ways in which we can balance capitalistic tendencies to monetise joy in our professional and personal lives, and challenge the need to perfect and structure as a way to expand our limitless imaginations.
What will be covered:
Childhood internalisation of validation-seeking from adults and learning self-worth from the opinions of those with greater authority and “experience”
Issues around infantilisation of young adults and the importance of being ‘seen’ as capable to make our own decisions
Maanarak’s personal challenges with balancing business needs and her journey in de-commodifying her passions
Ukraine war being a wake-up call for de-capitalising her social media presence
Being realistic with imaginations i.e. understanding we have material needs that need to be met by sufficient funds
Birthing her second book Sentéa to navigate her own eco-anxiety and connect with others on a similar journey
Divorcing from idea that we need a fixed timeline for everything
Embracing her pioneering spirit and taking a “go with the flow” approach to establishing her business
Her relationship with dance and acknowledging tensions around commodification of belly dance in particular —> concerns around being “good enough” to even monetise from it
Addressing privilege with not needed to commodify artistic interests
Learning how to grow beyond professional development and the importance of taking a step back and “letting the painting dry” to map out where to go next
Value of the ‘gift’ and emphasis on emotional value over monetary
Redefining validation as a source of inspiration from community to invite flow and joy into work as opposed to a metric of success
Resources:
Maanarak’s website
Maanarak’s book Sentéa
Connect with Maanarak on Instagram (@maanarak.art)
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Mind Full of Everything is a podcast calling for the radical healing of the self and community to outgrow the broken dominant culture of radical individualism and disconnection from our place as interdependent beings, so that we can collectively re-envision a safer, healthier and equitable world. Each episode takes a healing-centric approach to explore the embodied ways in which we can collectively restore and transform our journeys as stewards of community and earth through conversations with writers, researchers, coaches and educators, as well as reflection episodes with the host Agrita Dandriyal on her journey navigating the world as a deeply conscious, culturally-rooted and relational being. Learn more here.
