Interview of ViKtoria KOVA
by Amelie Eise

Amelie Eise [AE]: Viktoria, please tell us what „UTOPIA in the 21 st Century: LAND of GOOD“ is and how you came to think of it?

Victoria Kova [VK] : LAND of GOOD is a series of video-talks, various kind of exhibitions and a virtual reality experience in the making with the longtime aim to help create a prosperous, gender-balanced future society. Although LAND of GOOD is an ongoing virtual research on the possibilities and circumstances of an ideal society, it is also becoming an actual reality! Encouraged by the existing experience of 340 villages in the Netherlands and Belgium that supports my vision of a new way of living, LAND OF GOOD went from being a „Utopia“ to being a real-life for real people! In the famous Ural are of Russia we are constructing a permanent self-sufficient settlement, the ORDEX OF MASTERS for approximately 50 families.

AE: The dialogues in your „CrossOvers“ videos very much reflect the different positions of power and gender and do so in an exquisitely humourous and clever way. What are you hoping to achieve through the videos? What are you trying to explore through your works?

VK: I am taking the audience on a virtual voyage to observe cultural background as well as the contemporary identity of womanhood within the complex structure of our male-driven world.

AE: The „LAND of GOOD“ is run by a „Great Feminine“, or „Great Mother“. Please explain.

VK: The „Great Feminine“, or „Great Mother“, is a female, chosen (not elected) leader of a network of organized communities , independent, self-sustainable social and economic structures, when people are bound together by common needs and ideals. She is, unlike her male predecessors, a „Great mother“ rather than a ruler, the ultimate „Alma Mater“.

AE: Is your work about gender equality? Is it a counter-draft of a long history of patriarchy?

VK: The core of my reflections is not so much about gender equality but rather about gender balance / harmony, important to social peace. The „Great Feminine“, „Matriarchy“, supported by a „good“ masculine, will see to a harmonious balance between the masculine, feminine, society and ecosystem.

AE: Why are women, or the „Great Mother“, better suited to guide the world?

VK: I believe women, mothers especially, are focused on the survival of their offspring and thus of the survival and evolution of the next generations. Their role, even in modern time, is often not only linked to their personal gain, less prompted on conflict and confrontation, more on compromise. For me, 2020 was about rediscovering the feminine – the „Return of the Goddess“. I believe the Goddesses are the personification of the Mother-Nature and the ultimate manifestation of the feminine – the powers of deep emotion, care, moderation, beauty, kindness, patience, and oneness with nature. With her return, Goddess would bring-in the ‘quiet, less and better’ instead of ‘bigger, faster and more’.

AE: You are a member of the „TreeToo manifesto“ , a movement created by my former interview partner Etienne Verbist. What role does nature and more specifically trees play in the LAND of GOOD?

VK: A huge one! Look at the forest fires, water, and air pollution around the planet! The 7 videos and corresponding GODDESSES in „GODDESS RETURNs!“ are dedicated to the current situation that emerged between people and nature. „FLORA“ is the goddess of flowers and of the season of spring – a symbol for nature’s rejuvenation. She wakes up trees and flowers from the winter. „DIANA“ is the goddess of the wilderness, forests, and wild animals, „SALACIA“ is the goddess of the sea, and so on.

AE: The last 12 months have changed our daily lives drastically. Nature and humans as a species have had an involuntary but perhaps very much needed break from a rat race that has lasted too long. Do you think the corona crisis has changed our way of treating nature? How do you envision your role and the role of other artists after Corona?

VK: To many of us, social isolation felt like an invitation to the inner journey of creation, hedonism, self-love, and collective consciousness – If you can’t go OUT, go IN. To help the flow of goodness, LAND of GOOD Studio uses the knowledge of environmental impact to create „5-D Nature installations“and videos that activate positive vibrations of peace and prosperity in homes, public spaces and corporate environments.

AE: Thank you for the interview.