"I Have Also"
Performed by Ensemble Pamplemousse
Composed by Negar Soleymanifar

While writing this piece, I was thinking about one of the last sounds I encountered in my final month in Tehran: the sound of Moharram. The month that marks the death of Hossein (کوشته شد) over 1400 years ago. The sound of Moharram in Tehran was different this time from the previous years, louder, with more presence in the city. It felt like the government was saying: "Look, we won. You lost. We still have the power." after Mahsa Amini’s Movement. I felt angry and frustrated, but not for long. It just seemed like a chaotic spectacle, like a kid shouting. It made me feel pitiful. It made me laugh. And I'm unsure if I was laughing because of frustration, pity, or something else. I wanted to share that experience through this piece. I started with that but then I let the music guide. I wanted the music to be in power. I just wanted to let it out. The process wasn't going well, so I asked, why. During that time, I visited Boston and saw a homeless man in a wheelchair on the subway, laughing at people's faces from his corner. I smiled back at him and said, why not?

I Have Also

https://youtube.com/@negoosf?si=ktQd58l-w0a-G1XA