Every year on the eve of the Spring Equinox, the 13-day-long Persian New Year festival ofNowruzbegins.
Yet, we would go all out with our haft-sin, making it as beautiful and special as possible.
It became a tradition I looked forward to each year.
Sunny Shokrae at her haft-sin table last year in Brooklyn.
As a child, picking out themahi,or fish, for our sofreh was my highlight.
Its celebrations are imbued with depth and poetry, symbolizing light, spring, and new beginnings.
Each ritual gives to our renewal, mirroring the rebirth of our planet during the spring equinox.
Clémence Polès’s own haft-sin at her home in Paris.
Below, her portraits of eight of the women alongside their haft-sins.
My fathers mirror from Iran is the cornerstone of my haft-sin.
I like to build each years sculpture of spring around this piece.
Photo: Clémence Polès
What is your typical presentation style?
I have a large shelf in the center of my bookcase that is almost like an altar.
I love to decorate this as a spotlight for my haft-sin.
Photo: Clémence Polès
I use wood, ceramic, and silver vessels to fill with each of the seven symbols.
I also love bringing in large branches and flowers to represent the abundance of spring.
What is your personal history of celebrating Nowruz?
Photo: Clémence Polès
I grew up in Los Angeles celebrating Nowruz with my family.
I remember the weeks leading up to it, the excitement and traditions preparing for the celebration.
It has the blue turquoise colors of the handmade tiles of my ancestors city.
Photo: Clémence Polès
Its like creating a Persian garden, and sets the tone for the haft-sin elements.
My presentation is like designing a Persian garden, which requires flowers and birds and a book of poems.
What is your history celebrating Nowruz?
Photo: Clémence Polès
Lots of family get-togethers, starting with visits and respect to great-grandparents.
But dinner at my grandparents is always the highlight of continuing this tradition and celebration.
I generally like a minimalist and modern approach to designexcept haft-sin.
Photo: Clémence Polès
I like to use my familys fabrics and glassware that I brought from Iran to arrange my haft-sin.
We always had haft-sin.
Since I opened my restaurant Sofreh, I have arranged a beautiful sofreh haft-sin in my restaurant.
Photo: Clémence Polès
She also did the adorable evil eyedecorated garlic bulb for my haft-sin!
Her Sofreh Cafe will surely earn a cult following when it opens later this month.
In a departure from tradition, I use our fireplace mantle as a backdrop for the haft-sin.
Photo: Clémence Polès
The rituals are so fundamentally rooted in our DNA.
Its an essential rite of spring that I cant miss.
Amethyst is a stone that has remarkable healing benefits, including enhanced creativity and connection to the divine.
Photo: Clémence Polès
Celestite is a stone of divine protection, guidance, and communication, and of connection with guardian angels.
I often feel her presence, especially at my sofreh.
My spread is kind of a mash-up of old and new, ancient and modern, spiritual and earthly.
Photo: Clémence Polès
It feels true to medefined and shaped by my roots and culture, mixed with my own unique style.
Growing up, it felt like there was so much anticipation around Nowruz.
But these traditions and practices are what Ive come to appreciate most in life.
Photo: Clémence Polès
They preserve our identities and cultures and bring families closer together.
Also, an important highlightit was the most successfulsabzeIve ever grown.
(I even used some moss for this one.)
Photo: Clémence Polès
The rest is a mix of vessels from friends or peoples work that I admire.
For this specific arrangement, I used the mirror plexi I bought for our Nowruz fundraiser dinner in 2023.
From Tehran to Southern California to Brooklyn, I’ve celebrated Nowruz in every chapter of my life.
Photo: Clémence Polès
It brings such warmth, joy, and intentionality to the end of winter and the start of spring.
Its exactly what I need to propel me forward into the new season with new, revived energy.
The community aspect of it is priceless and invigorating.
Photo: Clémence Polès
I typically love to include a personal piece to the table to feel even more connected.
If Im lucky, my mother will prepare my favorite Persian dishes.
And then of coursetahdigandtorshi.
Photo: Clémence Polès
My own history with Noruwz was something I didnt pay enough spiritual attention to growing up.
Usually celebrated at friends or familys homes in New York or Los Angeles.
My favorite piece is a glass dish with lettuce edging, delicately painted by my great-grandmother, which holdssenjed.
Photo: Clémence Polès
