The rituals and celebrations associated with Navroz have fascinated 18-year-old Ava Irani Rathenberg of California over the years. Before her graduation from the Palo Alto High School in June 2023, she undertook an online survey this year to determine "Cultural Differences in Nowruz Celebrations (among) Modern-Day Parsi and Irani Zoroastrians.” Last year, the young artist had created Nowruz Self Portrait, using colored pencil on wood.
From the responses gleaned from 226 Zoroastrians in India, USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Singapore, Germany, Pakistan and other nations she calculated that 63% celebrate Navroz in March; nine percent in August; 28% in both March and August; 39% of respondents who celebrate Navroz in March prepare the traditional haft-seen table; six percent of those who celebrate in August; and 28% of those who celebrate twice a year have a haft-seen table. In India, 25% of the respondents organized a haft-seen table as compared to 46% in North America. Since Navroz celebration was not linked to country of residence, she felt "a need to redefine what the new Zoroastrian community is, rather than continue to accept it as the division between Parsi and Irani Zoroastrians.”
Above (l): Nowruz Self Portrait and (r) recent painting on
environment by artist Ava Irani Rathenberg (below and inset)
Images of her paintings done in 2022 can be seen on avarathenberg.squarespace.com/art-portfolio. Explaining her creativity, Ava who is half Iranian, half German, writes, "My two-dimensional art has primarily focused on my identity... It is particularly engaging for me when I use it to explore my religion. Given that I am Zoroastrian, it was challenging for me to find my identity within the American culture. But today, I can express my relationship with Zoroastrianism by picking up a paintbrush.”
Of her painting Nowruz Self Portrait she writes, "Throughout the painting there are multiple objects such as the garlic, apple, pomegranate and hyacinth flower which are objects placed on a Nowruz table… I used the symbol of the butterfly on my face to show the change that I go through every year. The two shooting stars are the Tistar or the stars of Orion’s belt that appear during the time of Nowruz.” Happy to "celebrate Navroz and invite everyone to our home according to the Zoroastrian traditions,” Ava told Parsiana that her navjote was done in Bombay and her grandfather Jahenagir Irani who passed away this year helped her learn the prayers. With family in Bombay and Dahanu, she mentioned that she often visits India to enjoy time with them.
Portrait of Iran, Ameretat, Chinvat Bridge, Guardian Angel are some of her other oil and pastel works where she depicts her understanding of Zoroastrian theology. As a Sunday School teacher for the Zoroastrian Association of Northern California she taught religion through art for children in the five to 12 age group.
"The last artwork I have done is related to the environment. The fish are trying to escape and the humans are processing and canning them. I am currently working on a new environment piece that represents the way people mistreat animals in the world for man-made consumption,” stated the sensitive artist who is currently pursuing computer science at the College of Engineering at Santa Clara University, California. Having won awards in academics and volunteer service when at school, Ava now volunteers for the immersions program helping the homeless in San Jose. A good swimmer, she is planning to join the Santa Clara University Intramural swim team. With a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do she served as a referee at national tournaments and believes the sport "has had a great influence on my life and helped me to become a better person.”
Ava’s mother Benafsha Irani is the founder and chief executive officer of West Coast Consulting Group that focuses on process improvements and Cloud based implementations. Her father Joerg Rathenberg is head of marketing for SandboxAQ, a leader in quantum computing. Her father’s German heritage is evinced in Ava’s other talents. She plays the piano and enjoys music from some of the German music composers. "I make marzipan from scratch with my dad during the Christmas holiday season. I am also self-learning German,” she stated.