nl12 | lab – Bridging Generations and Disciplines

At the heart of Amsterdam’s creative landscape, nl12 | lab operates as a living laboratory where stories aren’t told, but grown – cultivated through the friction and fusion of radically different perspectives.

nl12 | lab brings a collaborative ecosystem where each member’s unique trajectory transforms how we understand narrative itself. Artist who collaborate on our projects leave with something more valuable than their origional skill: the ability to see their own discipline as one voice in a larger conversation.

When a classically-trained musician like Frieda Gustavs starts thinking like a game designer, or when a tech specialist like Cris Mollee begins composing with light as narrative, something profound happens – artificial walls crumble. As we develop new projects exploring migration, memory and collective action, we’re actively seeking fellow travelers, not just those with impressive skills, but those who have stories and creative languages to share.

The most enduring narratives are never about a single vision, but about what emerges when distinct perspectives truly listen to each other. That’s the real experiment at nl12 | lab – and it’s one we’re still learning how to conduct.

Paulina Cywoniuk and Frieda Gustavs.

nl12 | lab is an interdisciplinary collaborative of creators from the (digital) creative field. We have backgrounds in visual arts, music, literature, photography, film, theatre and other media. For us, creation and research are inseparable. We all have hands-on experience with digital technology and build while developing. Our diversity in disciplines – and generations – is our strength. We work iteratively based on equality and the understanding that we need each other to progress and create stories that find their way in a world that’s on fire.

nl12 | lab currently consists of Frieda Gustavs, Leo Erken, Olga Starostina, Cris Mollee and Ellen Dosse. Supported by Jasmine Karimova, Marieke Ornelis, Paulina Cywoniuk and Kiriko Mechanicus.

Frieda Gustavs (Stralsund, Germany, 1996) is an Amsterdam-based composer, performer and virtual reality creator. She graduated cum laude with a Master’s degree in 2022 and a Bachelor’s in 2020 from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. During an Erasmus exchange in 2018, she studied at the Musikschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden. Her progressive and acclaimed music has been presented at ADE, Opera Forward Festival, Holland Festival, Gaudeamus Music Week, Dag van de Componist, Oranjewoud Festival, Wonderfeel, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Orgelpark Amsterdam, Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht, Amare Den Haag and various other halls and festivals around the Netherlands. In december 2024 she released diepvriesfruit, an album of genre-bridging songs. She seeks to challenge conventional structures, also the boundaries between disciplines.
In 2016, at age 18, she created a VR for children with Leo Erken: Frieda en het Ongedierte, where she starred, composed and recorded the music/soundscape. In 2021 came Walzer, a non-linear virtual reality about women’s rights that premiered at BFI London Film Festival XR/Expanded 2022. That same year she won the Young Art Support Amsterdam Prize. This was followed by the VR The March (also with Leo Erken and the nl12|lab team), scheduled to premiere in 2026.
Frieda on Spotify
www.friedagustavs.net

Leo Erken (Bemmel, 1964) is a visual artist working with XR, installation and (collecting) photography. A former photojournalist and filmmaker, he teaches at St Joost School of Art & Design in Breda.
2025 and 2024: (with Frieda Gustavs and nl12|lab team) Pilot version of VR The March at IFFR CineMart and Darkroom Rotterdam.
2024: VR Walzer at De Melkweg, In|Edit Festival, Amsterdam.
2023: VR The March receives funding from Immerce\Interact, Filmfonds NL and Stimuleringsfonds NL.
2023: VR Walzer at Eye Amsterdam, MAIIM Genoa Italy, AniFilm Czech Republic, Schiedam Library.
2022: (with Frieda Gustavs), world premiere of VR “Walzer”, BFI London Film Festival XR/Expanded.

Ellen Dosse (Haarlem, 1965) is active in the world of photography and visual communication, with a versatile career as a producer, educator, and coach. For years, she has worked to make photography more visible and accessible as a cultural heritage for a wide audience. As director of the Spaarnestad Photo Foundation, she led one of the world’s largest press photo archives, containing over 13 million photographs. Under her leadership, the foundation collaborated with museums, educational institutions, fellow archives, and photographers to bring this collection to life.
Her career began in advertising as an art buyer and producer at TBWA, where she worked for major brands such as Nissan Europe and Canon Europe. Drawing on her experience in the advertising world, she took on a new challenge as coordinator of the Marketing & Communications department at Robeco Netherlands BV. Later, she guided photographers in their creative and commercial projects at Hazazah Film & Photography. She also served as a coordinator and lecturer at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague.

Olga Starostina (Kyiv, Ukraine, 1982) worked as art director and project manager at publishers in Kyiv developing interactive and animated projects for children. In 2022, circumstances brought her and her daughter Sasha (5) to the Netherlands, where she joined nl12 | lab to develop VR creation skills, specialising in 3D modelling. She is also a photographer.

Cris Mollee (Utrecht, 1999) is a visual artist and lighting designer. In 2021 she graduated from HKU’s Interactive Performance Design programme with a collaboration with her computer resulting in AI-generated garments. Cris also works as lighting/video technician/designer for EKKO, Light-Up Collective, Uncloud and Creative Coding Utrecht, while designing light scenography and creative-technical systems for bands and theatre groups.
www.crismollee.com

Paulina Cywoniuk (Białystok, Poland, 2001) is a graphic designer and game developer. She graduated in 2024 with a virtual reality specialisation from Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.

Marieke Ornelis (Antwerp, Belgium, 1999) is a writer and theatre-maker. In 2023, she graduated from the directing programme at the Toneelacademie Maastricht, and in 2025, she will complete her Master’s in Contemporary Theatre, Dance, and Dramaturgy at Utrecht University. She researches literary theatre adaptations and creates music theatre as part of the collective Drie Dagen Fris. She is currently working on her debut novel.

Jasmine Karimova (Dushanbe, 1998) is a Tajik/Australian composer based in the Netherlands. Her practice explores multifaceted approaches to musical expression as a performer (voice, piano, organ). She has performed internationally including Moscow’s Olympic Stadium (2017) and Amsterdam’s Royal Theatre Carré (2022), and will compose/perform for the International Organ Symposium opening at Orgelpark Amsterdam (June 2024). Her works have been performed by Capella Choir (2023 Netherlands tour), CvA Orchestra under Ryan Bancroft (Leiden/April 2023, Amsterdam/March 2024), and Nederlands Kamerorkest. Collaborations include Hermes Ensemble Belgium (premiere June 2024) and a Japanese folk trio for an interdisciplinary short film recorded in Saga, Japan (February 2023).
www.jasminekarimova.com

Kiriko Mechanicus (Amsterdam, 1995) is a Dutch-Japanese documentary filmmaker, fiction/non-fiction writer, culinary historian, researcher, photographer and art director. Her graduation film “A Tomato Tragedy” (2023) screened at Netherlands Film Festival and won the Filmfonds Wildcard. She directs music videos, short docs and experimental films while contributing to Vice, Hard//Hoofd and Oerol’s daily paper. Commissioned to write a poem for Italian President Mattarella’s visit marking the EU’s 30th anniversary in the Netherlands.
www.kirikomechanicus.com

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