HEFT

HEFT: Heritage for the Future

Expanding the IX ecosystem for embodied cultural experiences

Makers working with Immersive Experiences (IX) in the Netherlands have gained significant (inter)national recognition at leading film and new media festivals, receiving both critical and popular acclaim. These successes demonstrate that the Dutch immersive

field is flourishing, showcasing a rich diversity of experiential styles and subjects. The makers in this consortium represent the full breadth of immersive practice: interactive storytelling (Studio ZZZAP), visual art and archival exploration (Nullshima Studio), journeys at the intersection of (music) theatre and film (Studio Nergens), and explorations of hidden data landscapes (Richard Vijgen).

Creating such compelling and innovative work in a still-emerging industry is an extraordinary achievement and a testament to both a fertile artistic climate and the makers’ steadfast vision and perseverance. Cultural institutions such as NISV and Eye regularly exhibit immersive works and actively explore strategies for their long-term preservation. The Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) plays a pivotal role within the ecosystem, offering a key platform to showcase new work and to foster dialogue on artistic, technological and strategic developments. Academic partners University of the Arts Utrecht (HKU) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) contribute essential applied research expertise, examining evolving production and distribution practices and reflecting on the broader societal impact of IX.

However, while immersive and storytelling methods are celebrated by peers and audiences, IX still struggles to generate lasting impact beyond specialized contexts. Many works do not return to heritage collections or archives, revealing three systemic challenges

identified by the HEFT consortium. First, IX productions often prioritise highly personal, embodied experiences that depend on specific environments and active facilitation. Designed mainly for solitary headset use, they resist scaling and underuse the potential for collective or social storytelling. Second, makers seek flexible public spaces that support movement and interaction, yet current infrastructure, budgets and institutional models rarely provide them. Expertise and capacity to sustainably host, distribute and preserve IX at scale remain limited, preventing coherent long-term strategies.

Third, despite growing audience interest, discoverability and access remain low due to limited technology availability, fragmented distribution and few equipped venues. As a result, many audiences cannot experience IX at all and after their initial festival release, most works remain unused, wasting both creative potential and investment.

Bios consortium partners

: Celine Daemen (Studio Nergens) is a director and transdisciplinary artist operating at the intersection of (music) theatre, film and immersive media. By combining new music and new XR technologies, she creates allembracing artworks that invite the audience on contemplative journeys in sounds and images. Her virtual reality operas have been internationally celebrated with exhibitions at major film festivals and performing art venues and several prestigious international awards.
For Songs for a Passerby, she was awarded the Venice Immersive Grand Prize for best immersive experience at the 2023 Venice Biennale. Earlier in 2022, her VR opera Eurydice was awarded a Reflet D’Or at GIFF in Geneva, Best Design at ArtVR in Prague and a Silver Yusr at the RSIFF in Jeddah.

: HKU University of the Arts Utrecht is one of Europe’s largest arts universities, offering a
full IX/XR design ecosystem through its Media, Games, Music Technology and Theatre academies. Its facilities (e.g. AXR-Lab, BlackBoxes) support cutting-edge, applied research into creative and societal applications of immersive media and technology. The primary interaction point with HKU is the research group (Dis)Connected Technology & Creativity, which focuses on the design processes of IX and their capability to (dis)embody and (dis)empower makers as well as people in general. Their knowledge is based on a wealth of IX-related research, both from an artistic as well as a societal impact perspective and on experience working with makers.

: Luke Conroy and Anne Fehres (Nullshima Studio) are an interdisciplinary duo based in the Netherlands, exploring cultural identity, climate futures and digital culture through research-driven, speculative storytelling. Through archival exploration, photography, video, sound, performance, VR and installation, they create expanded documentary works that blur boundaries between physical and digital, past and present.
Their works have been presented in 17 countries, including at the Hong-gah Museum (TW), Chroniques Biennial of Digital Imaginaries (FR), Hošek Contemporary (GER) and DMZ Docs (KR). Their latest VR work, Revival Roadshow, premiered at the 2025 International Film Festival Rotterdam, later showing at Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, Nederlands Film Festival, Geneva International Film Festival and DOK Leipzig. It was nominated for Best Interactive/Immersive Documentary at the AIDC Awards (AUS).

: Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (NISV) is a leading cultural media institute, operating a major audiovisual archive, a highly interactive media museum and research labs. NISV is recognised for its expertise at the crossroads of media, culture, technology and society. It fosters access to rich audiovisual collections, encouraging (creative) reuse for artistic and educational purposes.
In IX, NISV has been a pioneer in exploring how heritage collections can drive innovation in digital storytelling. By combining archival expertise with artistic and design research, NISV contributes to developing sustainable models for the distribution, exhibition and preservation of immersive experiences. Its work strengthens the link between audiovisual heritage and future-oriented media practices, supporting creativity and public engagement across sectors.

: Nienke Huitenga Broeren (Studio ZZZAP) is a director of immersive experiences and producer based in Utrecht. Her practice under Studio ZZZAP stems from a love for how interactive technology challenges our sense of presence in art and sharpens our understanding of being human.
Her latest VR documentary, LACUNA (2025), co-directed with Maartje Wegdam, premiered internationally in the immersive competition at Cannes 2025 and was nominated for a Gouden Kalf at the Dutch Film Festival in 2025. Specialising in the intersection between experience and narrative design, she focuses on developing new formats for embodied, collective and participatory storytelling. XR is often the tool of choice, but Nienke’s works respond dynamically with various digital media to the tensions between narrative coherence and experiential freedom, allowing audiences to inhabit and influence the immersive worlds she builds.

: Richard Vijgen is a data artist whose work reveals the hidden layers of the technological world through intuitive, sensory experiences. His data landscapes and site-specific metaphors translate invisible phenomena (like networks, algorithms and signals) into tangible form.
Internationally exhibited and widely awarded (Dutch Design Awards, Lumen Prize, Ars Electronica), his practice bridges the digital and physical. Vijgen also contributes to academic discourse on data culture and teaches at ArtEZ and other institutions.

: Satore Studio (Portugal) is an immersive design and research studio led by Tupac Martir. Working at the intersection of visual art, performance and technology, the studio creates large-scale, multisensory environments that push the boundaries of storytelling and audience engagement.
Satore brings deep expertise in creative technology, light and spatial composition, contributing a visionary perspective on the aesthetics and production of immersive experiences.

: The University of Amsterdam - Media Studies Department (UvA) has introduced VR studies through three BA and MA seminars designed by Hemen Heidari (the UvA representative in HEFT), exploring VR philosophy, the politics of immersive media and new forms of storytelling.
In addition to its teaching facilities, the department hosts a Media Lab and supports filmmaking initiatives and festivals under the Media Makers. Its strong foundation in film theory and cultural analysis provides a vital link to the philosophical and critical roots of immersive media and heritage.

: Eye Filmmuseum is the Netherlands’ national home of cinema, bridging historical film heritage with experimental media practices. Housing over 62000 films, Eye operates five cinemas, a major exhibition space and a leading education programme.
Internationally acclaimed for film restoration and curatorial innovation, it was among the first to integrate immersive and VR storytelling into its institutional framework, experimenting with social engagement.
Through exhibitions, residencies and scholarly activities, Eye explores intersections between cinema, visual arts and embodied, technology-driven experiences. Its focus on storytelling, audience engagement and archival sustainability makes it vital in expanding the dramaturgical possibilities of moving images while preserving artistic integrity and public accessibility for emerging media formats.

NFF Presents HEFT for the Preservation of Immersive Experiences

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