Singer Rara Sekar draws inspiration from nature, encourages people to return to simple living

OXFORD, England (AP) — Rara Sekar closed her eyes in meditation after performing a song that speaks of rays of light that cut through the fog as one political prisoner faced death more than six decades ago.

The song, which recalls a period of political turmoil in Indonesia, has become a symbol for the singer who has focused on encouraging people to be creative in responding to the climate crisis in Indonesia, her homeland.

The prisoner’s song is “very healing," Sekar told The Associated Press after performing Thursday at the Skoll World Forum, an annual event focused on ideas for change on issues ranging from climate change to health and human rights. "When I find myself hopeless doing climate activism, or other activism, I sing it.”

Sekar’s campaign for a healthy environment in Indonesia focuses on a return to “low-waste life,” which includes foraging in the forest for wild food and communal potlucks. Between 2022 and 2023, she organized bicycle rides on the island of Java, where erosion and flooding have engulfed homes, that she said were meant to show locals the joys of communing with nature.

“I try to give back to nature in everything I do,” she said. “Not just about the songs I write but also how I live.”

A vast tropical archipelago stretching across the equator, Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest rainforest, with a variety of wildlife and plants, including orangutans and elephants. But environmental degradation is widespread, and the nation has faced extreme weather events in recent years that range from flooding to landslides.

Indonesia is consistently ranked as one of the largest global emitters of plant-warming greenhouse gases, stemming from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, along with deforestation and fires of wetland ecosystems called peatlands.

Since 1950, more than 74 million hectares (285,715 square miles) of Indonesian rainforest — an area twice the size of Germany — have been logged, burned or degraded for development of palm oil, paper and rubber plantations, mining and other commodities, according to Global Forest Watch.

Sekar performed “Kabut Putih” at Skoll, which takes place in Oxford, England. She sang as part of the Found Sound Nation, a New York-based group that works to engage communities through music.

“Kabut Putih” — or “White Fog” — was written in 1971 by Zubaidah Nuntjik, an Indonesian woman who is believed to have died after being freed from the prison camp where she and many others had been detained. Sekar released a recording of the song in 2024, working with a group that includes families of victims and survivors of the 1965 mass killings that targeted suspected members of the Communist Party of Indonesia.

Sekar, who also performs under the name hara, said the song's spirit “gave me strength just to be hopeful” as a climate campaigner.

“Most of my songs are inspired by nature,” she said. “I guess I try to incorporate ways of educating people about climate, the climate crisis, through my tour.”

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