Martijn van Schaik
Martijn van Schaik
MENTEE
The Netherlands
COHORT OF 2025
Mentor : Gretchen Coss
My mission is to transform how audiences engage with culture by creating immersive, playful digital experiences that make art, history, and heritage accessible, meaningful, and unforgettable for all generations.
I am a creative technologist and founder working at the intersection of culture, immersive media, and audience engagement. Over the past years, I have collaborated with museums and cultural institutions across Europe, the Middle East, and North America, designing experiences that blend storytelling, play, and emerging technologies such as XR, AI, and gaming. My background spans industrial design, digital strategy, and the realization of interactive installations, which allows me to bridge creative, strategic, and technical disciplines. Today, my work focuses on expanding how cultural spaces can reach and truly resonate with new generations.
My core passion lies in shaping the future of cultural engagement. I believe museums and cultural institutions have extraordinary potential to ignite curiosity, foster empathy, and create meaningful shared experiences when they embrace new forms of interaction. I want to contribute to a future in which culture is not passively consumed but actively explored and lived, physically and digitally. In the long run, my goal is to help institutions build sustainable and imaginative digital ecosystems that welcome younger audiences, celebrate diverse stories, and offer experiences that are as emotionally impactful as they are educational. I am driven by the idea that technology, when used thoughtfully, can become a bridge rather than a barrier, bringing people closer to culture rather than distancing them from it.
I joined the 30UNDER30 Mentorship program because I wanted to grow within a community that is passionate about reimagining cultural participation. The global nature of the network was especially appealing. Access to peers and professionals from different countries and disciplines has broadened my thinking and inspired me to challenge familiar approaches. My experience in the program has exceeded every expectation. I was fortunate to have very personal one on one conversations with my mentor nearly every two weeks throughout the program. She helped me navigate questions about my work, my direction, and my long term aspirations. What made the mentorship truly transformative was her encouragement to shift perspective. Instead of thinking only from the viewpoint of my company or ongoing projects, she guided me to reflect on what I, as a person, truly want to do and achieve. This has been invaluable in shaping both my confidence and my clarity moving forward.
The mentorship has given me a stronger sense of purpose and a renewed belief in the power of interdisciplinary collaboration. I am grateful to be part of a community that supports emerging leaders who are committed to shaping bold and innovative cultural futures.