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IMVU and Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova have teamed up to launched a metaverse experience dubbed Utopia: A Virtual Haven for All.
At the NFT.NYC 2023 event in New York, Together Labs, the parent company of social Web3 metaverse IMVU as well as blockchain tech firm MetaJuice, announced the collaboration. They are getting together with Pussy Riot creator, activist, and artist, Nadya Tolokonnikova.
Celebrating their shared interest in creating welcoming Web3 metaverse spaces, IMVU will launch an official community space envisioned by Tolokonnikova called Utopia and will soon release a limited-edition non-fungible token (NFT) collection within IMVU.
New and existing users will take an in-metaverse IMVU Quest, completing tasks to explore the Pussy Riot Pink Church of Feminism: the name of Nadya’s official space inside IMVU.
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Users can engage with other IMVU Utopia community members inside a grand church adorned in the expected pink, white, and dripping-black punk feminist aesthetics for which Nadya is known. The Pink Church of Feminism features a main stage complete with band setups so anyone can roleplay their own punk performance, a dance floor under interactive clouds, and a meditation circle, giving everyone something to do inside this exclusive space.
“It’s very thrilling to launch Utopia in IMVU and make it feminist, queer, diverse and radical. It has always been a dream of mine to create a Pink Church of Feminism,” Tolokonnikova said in a statement. “Eventually, I’ll find a way to build it in real life. But the first step is to launch this vision in the metaverse.”
The room is built to support like-minded IMVU users and promote a welcoming space for all, including women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ creatives. The first 5,000 eligible users that complete the free quest will also unlock a free Utopia Community NFT designed by Tolokonnikova.
Not only will this help Utopia members identify one another in other IMVU rooms, but it also allows the diverse IMVU community and Tolokonnikova, represented by her unique custom avatar, to stand together in solidarity, the company said.
In the coming year, Tolokonnikova will participate in a series of MetaJuice-powered IMVU Limited Edition NFT releases featuring wearable avatar items inspired by the artist’s art and fashions.
“I designed digital wearables that we’ll drop soon in IMVU,” said Tolokonnikova. “And a part of the proceeds will fund North Caucasus SOS, an organization helping gay people to safely leave Chechnya, the region of Russia where gay people are gravely in danger.”
The series’ first drop will be showcased later today at an invite-only event held during NFT.NYC 2023. Event attendees are eligible to get a free exclusive NFT to commemorate the occasion. Shortly after, Tolokonnikova and IMVU will invite the world to join Utopia on April 14. Simply sign in to IMVU and create your avatar to participate in Tolokonnikova’s first Utopia Quest and NFT drop.
“I’ve been in love with the IMVU metaverse for years. Three years ago, in the middle of the lockdown, I was asked to perform a Pussy Riot set in IMVU,” Tolokonnikova said. “At times when I wasn’t able to share my art with people in person, IMVU’s metaverse gave me the possibility to jump around and perform like in the good old days. It was very fulfilling to play around with wearables and create bold feminist looks for the performance. IMVU is not centralized in a way that it allows creators to offer their own items designed by them; that’s why it became home for the wildest designs and looks.”
“Nadya has long loved the freedom and aesthetic possibilities of the IMVU metaverse, and so we worked together on an extraordinary collaboration bringing Nadya’s art and activism to life for IMVU’s incredibly diverse and wildly creative community. We welcome Nadya’s fans to IMVU in joining her Utopia community,” said Maura Welch, Together Labs vice president of marketing, in a statement. “From the elegant fantastical Pink Church of Feminism to the fire-hot designs of an NFT Collection that is authentically hers, there is no better home for Nadya’s Pussy Riot community.”
The party doesn’t stop at the grand opening. The Pussy Riot Pink Church of Feminism plans to host a series of future IMVU events, including Riot Town Halls with Tolokonnikova and other speakers, a “Friends of Nadya” party, a metaverse music festival, future NFT drops, and more.
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Dean Takahashi
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