Valerie Hillings to Lead Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Valerie Hillings has been appointed the inaugural director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, returning to the museum project more than six years after leaving its curatorial team. The appointment comes ahead of the institution's planned opening on 11 December on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island.

Hillings has led the North Carolina Museum of Art since 2018, overseeing a period of expansion that included the museum's largest private fundraising campaign and record attendance across its Raleigh and Winston-Salem campuses. Before that, she spent almost a decade working on the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project as curator and associate director of curatorial affairs, helping to shape the museum's collection strategy and acquisitions between 2009 and 2018.

During her earlier tenure, Hillings organised a series of exhibitions drawn from the future museum's collection, including The Creative Act (2017) at Manarat Al Saadiyat, which featured artists including Rasheed Araeen and Mohammed Kazem.

"I am honoured to return to Abu Dhabi to complete the once-in-a-lifetime journey of founding and opening Guggenheim Abu Dhabi," Hillings said in a statement.

The Frank Gehry-designed museum has been in development since plans were first announced in 2006. It will become the Guggenheim's fourth museum and a cornerstone of Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District, joining institutions including the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the forthcoming Zayed National Museum.

The appointment follows the announcement last week that Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will open on 11 December. Stephanie Rosenthal, who has led the museum's development since 2022, said she would work closely with Hillings during the transition. With Mariët Westermann leading the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, all senior leadership positions across the Guggenheim's museum network are now held by women.