Malena Modéer, born and raised in Stockholm, completed training in scenic painting at the Dramatic Institute in Stockholm from 2001 to 2003. In 2005, she relocated to Berlin to study costume design under Florence von Gerkan at the Berlin University of the Arts. Her graduation project was the short film “Johnny”, which she directed. The film premiered at the New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) in 2010.
Since then, Malena Modéer has worked as a freelance costume designer for theatre, dance, film and television. She has collaborated with several choreographers, including Clément Layes, Christoph Winkler, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández and Lisa Janbell. In 2009, she co-founded werkstattkollektiv, a creative laboratory specialising in set and costume design. The company collaborates with artists from the independent arts scene, including Mariana Castillo Deball (Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin) and Petrit Halilaj (Venice Biennale). werkstattkollektiv’s work has also been presented at the Salzburger Festspiele, the Metropolitan Opera, the Ruhrtriennale and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
For several years, she has enjoyed a close creative partnership with film and theatre director Adrian Figueroa. Together, they have worked on various projects, including the award-winning films “Anderswo” and “Proll”. Their theatre productions have been staged at the HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin, the Staatsschauspiel Dresden, the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, the Staatstheater Hannover and the Münchner Volkstheater.
With DER SANDMANN, she continues her collaboration with Adrian Figueroa for the first time at the Schauspielhaus Zürich.
