WORDS ANGGARA MAHENDRA AND I WAYAN JUNIARTA PHOTOS ANGGARA MAHENDRA AND COURTESY OF MARMAR HERAYUKTI

'€œA young man leads the return of eco-friendly ogoh-ogoh'€

Tall, handsome and with the sculpted body of a Muay-Thai practitioner, he exudes the bad-boy aura of a rock star '€” well, he has had his share of screaming poignant lyrics on stage, but Marmar Herayukti is anything but bad. He doesn'€™t even smoke '€” a numero uno prerequisite here to be a bad boy.

The soft-spoken tattoo and visual artist has gained growing popularity and a following among Denpasar'€™s youths for his relentless campaign on eco-friendly ogoh-ogoh, the giant figures the local youths craft and parade on the night before the Day of Silence.

Since its advent in the 1980s, the ogoh-ogoh parade has become a status symbol for the youth groups of the local traditional communities. They try to outdo each other by creating the biggest and most elaborate ogoh-ogoh around. In the last decade, polystyrene foam, locally known as styrofoam, has been adopted as the preferred material, giving the young artists a substance that is easy to shape and carve; it also cuts production time considerably.

However, it is also a very damaging material to the environment and a possible human carcinogen.

'€œBack in 2012, the local youths in my banjar [traditional hamlet] were still using polystyrene.'€

Marmar persuaded them to change. It was a gradual process that peaked in 2014, when they totally ditched polystyrene and re-embraced the old method of crafting ogoh-ogoh using plaited bamboo, wood, paper pulp and metal rods.

The production process was much longer as the youths had to re-learn the skill of ngulat (weaving) the bamboo strips, and it also took more people to craft a single ogoh-ogoh.

'€œIt turns out that the old method is not only more eco-friendly but also more effective in building a sense of camaraderie because it requires more people to work together for a single purpose. A polystyrene ogoh-ogoh could be finished by a team of four people.'€

Soon Marmar was busy talking with youths from neighboring hamlets, and later on from across Denpasar, about the danger of polystyrene and the beauty of the old ways. He also shared the required skills of ngulat with streams of interested youngsters who sought his advice.

'€œI share and do not impose anything. I believe that people have the capacity to find the best way, to sort things out and find methods that are in harmony with nature.'€

His gentle and lead-by-example approach has won him support at every corner, including from the Denpasar mayor, who provides funds for the annual ogoh-ogoh competition.

Today, the use of eco-friendly material is an important norm in the competition and nearly all hamlets in the municipality have abandoned polystyrene in the making of ogoh-ogoh.

'€œOur life will be purer if we strive to inflict as little damage as possible on Mother Nature,'€ Marmar stated.

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