Kamand Kojouri: Currency of Words

Posted by admin on Monday, March 12, 2018

Kamand Kojouri Money Quote saying our blood is given with sweat and tears to create, but the bank fails to recognize the value of that devotion. Kamand Kojouri said:
 

 

“I left the bank because they wouldn’t deposit my cheque of poems. So I went to the store, but they didn’t accept my currency of words. So I boxed all my stories and took them to charity. But they refused my donation and asked me to give blood instead. I opened the notebooks and made them look, ‘What do you think I wrote these in?”
— Kamand Kojouri

 

 

In this quote, Kamand Kojouri is expressing frustration with institutions that do not recognize or value artistic creativity and self-expression in the same way they do traditional currencies like money. Some key points:

• Kojouri tries to “deposit” a “cheque of poems” at the bank, but they refuse to treat his poems as a valid form of currency or asset.
• Similarly, when he goes to the store with his “currency of words” in the form of stories, they also do not accept this non-monetary medium of exchange.
• Even when he tries donating his boxed stories to charity, they reject his literary contribution and instead ask him to give blood.
• By asking what medium the notebooks were written in, Kojouri highlights how unappreciated his artistic talents and efforts are, though they represent his livelihood and contributions.

The quote conveys Kojouri’s exasperation that the fruits of creative labor are undervalued in a system geared only for traditional currencies, not alternative forms of wealth like poetry, stories or knowledge. He critiques this narrow definition of what constitutes a valid currency.