Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Appoints Inaugural Museum Director
Dr Valerie Hillings
© Photo: Justin Kase Conder courtesy of NCMA
(eap) The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi has announced the appointment of Dr Valerie Hillings as the inaugural Director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the latest Emirati art museum scheduled to open its doors on 11 December this year. As Director, Dr Hillings will be responsible for the museum’s strategic direction, coordinate its inaugural exhibitions and programmes, and establish an institution that is rooted in Abu Dhabi while also being connected to the world. Guggenheim Abu Dhabi aims to bring together different cultures and artistic perspectives and present art from the 1960s to the present day.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will offer new perspectives on modern and contemporary art through an Abu Dhabi lens. © Photo: Department of Culture & Tourism | Emic Works
Dr Hillings is already highly familiar with Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. From 2009 to 2018, she served as Curator and Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. In this role, she worked closely with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi on the collection strategy and acquisitions, the pre-opening programme and the planning of the building designed by Frank Gehry (†). Before that, she was a member of the curatorial team at the Guggenheim in New York for five years. Dr Hillings has served as Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art since 2018. There, she led the redesign of the permanent collection galleries, expanded the collection by around 400 works and oversaw a doubling of annual visitor numbers to 1.2 million.
“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,” said Dr Hillings. ■
