Research how immersive experiences in the museum sector can be developed in a responsible and multi-voiced manner.

Together with Bernadette Schrandt, a researcher at the intersection of mixed reality, heritage, and dialogical practices at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and a PhD candidate at the Open University, Studio Immersief, led by Danny van Zuijlen, is examining how we can develop immersive experiences in the museum sector responsibly and in a multi-voiced way.

Archive Research

The focus is on the archive of scientist Hendrik Lorentz (1871–1944) in the National Archive. We zoom in on his expedition to New Guinea (1909/1910), present-day West Papua, governed by Indonesia.

Lorentz's expedition was part of the Dutch colonial administration and was organized both militarily and scientifically. A journey of three months under harsh conditions, strongly dependent on locally and regionally hired labor.

The archive contains maps, photos, and diaries, but also name cards and employment passes of hired workers from Borneo. Documents that show how people were registered and deployed within the colonial system - and that can bring their names and individual positions from the anonymity of the archive into the light.

At the same time, we must acknowledge that the archive itself is a product of colonial knowledge production, with clear hierarchies and blind spots.

Making Process

In this project, we shift the focus from just visitor experience to the making process itself.

• How do creators and heritage professionals navigate tensions around representation, technology, and colonial context?

• And how do we develop a careful, responsive design practice - including critical reflection on our own role within a Dutch heritage framework?

In the upcoming phase, we are actively seeking collaboration with relevant communities and experts.

The project Layering Histories has been selected within the Creative Innovation Call 2026 of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.

Photo: Members of the Lorentz expedition, including expedition leader H.A. Lorentz and Dayak porters, at the snow line on the Wilhelmina Peak (now Puncak Trikora), in what was then Dutch New Guinea - 1910. Collection Wereldmuseum.