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The (monster) architects
Skills building: These young adults have developed creative and management skills over their years crafting ogoh-ogoh for Nyepi eve
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Skills building: These young adults have developed creative and management skills over their years crafting ogoh-ogoh for Nyepi eve.
Pulling together a project demands adherence to a range of disciplines from material sourcing, budget oversight and human resources.
When you are just 13 years of age and heading up a team of lads much younger and with the project deadline looming, the job could be overwhelming.
For young teen Gede Ngurah Wahyu, called Rahtat, those stressors have all been in a day's work in the weeks leading up to Nyepi (Hindu Day of Silence), which falls on Saturday.
'I am the architect for our Ogoh-ogoh. I was given the job two weeks ago and my duties are to find the wood, styrofoam, the paint and other decorations like the hair for our giant monster,' says Rahtat, adding that to date his team of monster-makers, who range in age from 10 to 13, have spent just shy of US$100 on materials, sourced primarily from his village's hardware store.
Of the 15 members in his group, all have special tasks, with one of the most important being fund-raising. With a school textbook and a pen in hand, his squad of keen craftsmen roam the village going door to door seeking donations for the Ogoh-ogoh.
'Most people give us a donation. We go around Tengkulak Kaja and if people can offer us a few rupiah, that helps a lot. We have run out of money at the moment and still need to buy a bit more blue paint and more hair for our raksasa [giant],' says Rahtat, adding that his group does not stray into other villages in search of funds, since that would be risky as each village has it own teams of Ogoh makers.
Made Rian is one of the youngest of Tengkulak Kaja's monster-makers; he appears chuffed to be hanging out with the big boys, doing his apprenticeship under the skilled eye of Rahtat, who got his start in ogoh crafting at 9 years of age.
'We like to come together with friends to make the Ogoh. We design it together and then start to plan how to build it,' says the big-eyed 10-year-old.
It is this working together, organization and creativity that impresses Rahtat's father, I Gusti Made Wila.
'I was surprised to discover the boys had done so much work. I had no idea they had started this project. They have come together and organized the jobs they needed to do and raised the money, all on their own. They are young but they have sourced donations, bought the materials and worked as a team on this duty. I am really happy to see them so creative and responsible,' says Wila, adding that he feels the making of Ogoh- ogoh helps youngsters discover their abilities and allows them to think creatively.
With account book in hand listing the names of donors and amounts, a kilometer away the kids of another village are also out on the streets hunting for donations. The money man for the group, Andika Wija, says his band of boys ran out of money 'a while ago', having overrun their budget on styrofoam.
'Today our total raised is Rp 145,000. That is from donations from hotels and villas. We started asking for funds about two weeks ago and we still need Rp 200,000 more to finish our project,' says 14-year-old Komang Harianto, adding that like the boys of Tengkulak Kaja, his troupe does not cross village boundaries in their search for donors.
With eyes wide at the idea of seeking funds from neighboring villages, Komang shakes his head,' We can't do that, each village makes its own Ogoh-ogoh.'
The monsters made by these young teens to celebrate Nyepi and chase forest and river demons out of homes and back to their natural dwellings are practice runs for the giant monster effigies made by older lads of village youth groups.
Forming his team, delegating duties and discovering the different talents of his 14 mates and putting these to good effect has given young Rahtat great confidence; at just 13 he knows he wants to project manage in the future. 'I want to be an architect,' he says, the very act of making of ogoh ogoh enough to chase off any doubts about his future.
' Photos by J.B. Djwan
