The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi has announced the appointment of Dr Valerie Hillings as the inaugural Director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which is set to open on 11 December.
In her new role, Dr Hillings will oversee the museum’s strategic direction, exhibitions and public programme, working to establish Guggenheim Abu Dhabi as an institution rooted in the UAE while engaging with international audiences. The museum’s programme will focus on modern and contemporary art from the 1960s to the present, fostering connections between cultures and generations.
The appointment of Dr Hillings follows her earlier involvement with Guggenheim Abu Dhabi from 2009 to 2018 as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s curator and associate director of curatorial affairs for Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project. During this period, Dr Hillings collaborated with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi on key aspects of the museum’s development, including its collection strategy, acquisitions, pre-opening programmes, and the design of the late Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Frank Gehry’s building.
Since 2018, Dr Hillings has been North Carolina Museum of Art’s director, where she oversaw the transformation of its permanent collection galleries, expanded the museum’s holdings by approximately 400 works and helped double annual attendance to 1.2 million visitors.
“I am honoured to return to Abu Dhabi to complete the once-in-a-lifetime journey of founding and opening Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, a museum developed in the United Arab Emirates by colleagues from both the region and around the world. I look forward to welcoming local and global audiences to the magnificent Frank Gehry-designed building and inviting them to explore points of interconnection and unique stories through the lens of art from the 1960s to our time.” Dr Hillings notes.
The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will be located in the heart of the Saadiyat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi, alongside Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi and teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi. The museum’s building and its surrounding area will span a total of 80, 000 square metres and will host 30 galleries. The museum’s collection will offer new perspectives from a local lens as well as include new commissions, ongoing research and exhibitions conceived to bridge cultures across West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and the wider region.
