Maanarak of Grey on artivism and playfulness in international development

In a culture that inhibits adult creative integration, how can grounding community development work in play, creativity, vulnerability and inner child healing help materialise knowledges into transformative development practice?

This month, we invite to the space 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 discuss the place that artivism holds in sustainable development and the ways in which art and science can be interwoven to make the development sector more accessible, fluid and equitable through the powerful tool of play. By getting in touch with our inner child and the playful modes of creation we once had access to as children, Maanarak guides us in exploring the deeply healing forces of art that invite opportunities to be vulnerable and in touch with ourselves, our communities and our ecosystems to bring about long-lasting systemic change.

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