HEFT

HEFT: Heritage for the Future is the new project by the NFF, in collaboration with a broad consortium of makers and institutions, to secure the future of immersive media.

Within this two-year project, the consortium investigates methods to sustainably develop Immersive Experiences (IX), including VR and XR, and to preserve them as cultural heritage. HEFT combines artistic and practice-based research with the development and testing of new immersive artworks. In this way, the partners are building a solid foundation for these media forms, so that they can also be preserved, shared, and experienced in the long term.

HEFT is funded by the Creative Industries Fund NL and the CIIIC (Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition).

Consortium partners

: Celine Daemen (Studio Nergens) is a director and interdisciplinary artist who operates at the intersection of (music) theatre, film and immersive media. By combining music with XR technologies, she creates all-encompassing artworks that invite audiences on contemplative journeys through sound and image. Her VR operas have been internationally acclaimed, with screenings at leading film festivals and performing arts venues, and have won multiple prestigious international awards.
For Songs for a Passerby she received the Venice Immersive Grand Prize for best immersive experience at the Venice Biennale in 2023. In 2024, this work was also nominated for a Golden Calf for Best Digital Culture Production. 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 RSIFF in Jeddah.

: The HKU Utrecht University of the Arts is one of Europe's largest art universities and offers a complete IX/XR design ecosystem through its academies for Media, Games, Music Technology and Theatre. Its facilities (such as the AXR-Lab and BlackBoxes) support groundbreaking, applied research into creative and societal applications of immersive media and technology. Within HKU, the research group (Dis)Connected Technology & Creativity is closely involved. This group focuses on the design processes of IX and their capacity to (dis)embody and (dis)empower both makers and people in general. Their knowledge is grounded in a rich body of IX-related research, from both an artistic perspective and in terms of societal impact, as well as experience working with makers.

: Luke Conroy and Anne Fehres (Nullshima Studio) are an interdisciplinary duo based in the Netherlands who approach cultural identity, climate futures and digital culture through research-driven, speculative storytelling. Through archival research, photography, video, sound, performance, VR and installations, they create expansive documentary works that blur the boundaries between physical and digital, past and present.
Their work has been presented in 17 countries, including at the Hong-gah Museum (Taiwan), the Chroniques Biennial of Digital Imaginaries (France), Hošek Contemporary (Germany) and DMZ Docs (South Korea). Their most recent VR work Revival Roadshow premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2025 and was subsequently shown at, among others, the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, the Netherlands Film Festival, the Geneva International Film Festival and DOK Leipzig. The work was nominated for Best Interactive/Immersive Documentary at the AIDC Awards (Australia).

: The Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision is a leading cultural media institute with an extensive audiovisual archive, an interactive media museum and various research labs. Sound & Vision is known for its expertise at the intersection of media, culture, technology and society. The institute promotes the accessibility of rich audiovisual collections and encourages (creative) reuse for artistic and educational purposes.
Within IX, Sound & Vision is a pioneer in exploring how heritage collections can drive innovation in digital storytelling. By combining archival expertise with artistic and design-led research, Sound & Vision contributes to the development of sustainable models for the distribution, presentation and preservation of immersive experiences. Sound & Vision's work strengthens the connection between audiovisual heritage and forward-looking media practices, and supports creativity and audience engagement across a wide range of sectors.

: Nienke Huitenga Broeren (Studio ZZZAP) is a director of immersive experiences and creative producer, based in Utrecht. Her practice within Studio ZZZAP stems from a fascination with the way interactive technology questions our sense of presence in art and deepens our understanding of what it means to be human.
Her most recent VR documentary LACUNA (2025), which she co-directed with Maartje Wegdam, had its international premiere in the immersive competition at Cannes 2025 and was nominated in the same year for a Golden Calf at the Netherlands Film Festival. She works in the field of experience design and narrative form, focusing on the development of new formats for embodied, collective and participatory storytelling. XR is often employed as a tool, but her work moves dynamically across various digital media, exploring the tension between narrative coherence and experiential freedom. In doing so, audiences are given the opportunity to enter and co-shape immersive worlds.

: Richard Vijgen is a data artist whose work makes the hidden layers of the technological world visible through intuitive, sensory experiences. His data landscapes and site-specific metaphors translate invisible phenomena such as networks, algorithms and signals into tangible forms.
His work is exhibited internationally and has been recognised with various awards (Dutch Design Awards, Lumen Prize and Ars Electronica). In his practice, he bridges the digital and physical world. In addition, Vijgen contributes to academic discourse on data culture and teaches at ArtEZ and other educational institutions, among others.

: 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, offering a visionary perspective on the aesthetics and production of immersive experiences.

: The University of Amsterdam – Department of Media Studies (UvA) has introduced VR studies through three BA and MA seminars, developed by Hemen Heidari (the UvA representative within HEFT). These courses explore, among other things, the philosophy of VR, the politics of immersive media and new forms of storytelling.
In addition to its teaching facilities, the department has a Media Lab and supports film initiatives and festivals within Media Makers. Its strong foundation in film theory and cultural analysis forms an important connection with the philosophical and critical roots of immersive media and heritage.

: Eye Filmmuseum is the national film museum of the Netherlands and connects film-historical heritage with experimental media practices. With a collection of over 62,000 films, Eye has five cinema screens, a large exhibition space and a leading education programme.
Internationally, the museum is known for its film restoration and curatorial innovation. Eye was one of the first institutions to integrate immersive and VR storytelling into its own organisation, experimenting with forms of societal engagement.
Through exhibitions, residencies and scholarly activities, Eye explores the intersections between film, visual art and embodied, technology-driven experiences. Its focus on storytelling, audience engagement and archival sustainability makes the institution of great value for broadening the dramaturgical possibilities of moving image, while preserving artistic integrity and public accessibility for new media forms.

NFF Presents HEFT for the Preservation of Immersive Experiences

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