Valerie Hillings, a long-standing figure within the Guggenheim institution, has been officially designated as the first director of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. This significant announcement comes as the museum prepares for its grand opening in December, signaling a pivotal moment in the development of the cultural landscape of the United Arab Emirates. Hillings' appointment underscores a continuation of her deep involvement with the project, which she has nurtured from its nascent stages.
Her journey with the Guggenheim spans many years, initially serving in New York for five years before transitioning to the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project in 2008. In her capacity as curator and associate director of curatorial affairs, she played an instrumental role in laying the groundwork for the institution's artistic direction. Her efforts were critical in developing an acquisition strategy and shaping a curatorial focus that highlights art from West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia, specifically works created from 1960 onwards. This dedicated work, in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, continued until 2018, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to the museum's vision.
Expressing her enthusiasm, Hillings shared her honor in returning to Abu Dhabi to culminate the extraordinary endeavor of establishing and launching the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. She looks forward to welcoming both local and international visitors to the architecturally stunning Frank Gehry-designed building, inviting them to explore narratives of interconnectedness and unique cultural expressions within its walls. Her return follows a successful eight-year tenure as director of the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) in Raleigh, where she significantly boosted annual attendance to 1.2 million and led a comprehensive reinstallation of its permanent collection, titled “The People’s Collection, Reimagined.” During her leadership, the NCMA’s collection expanded by approximately 400 works, notably acquiring its first Pablo Picasso painting.
Academically, Hillings possesses a strong foundation in art history, holding a doctorate from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and a degree from Duke University. Her curatorial expertise is further evidenced by her work on the landmark survey “Zero: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s–60s” at the Guggenheim New York in 2014, which explored the experimental German postwar group, Zero. Upon its inauguration, Hillings will oversee the most expansive branch within the Guggenheim’s global network, and a highly anticipated addition to the Saadiyat Cultural District. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, a project conceptualized in 2006, has overcome two decades of delays and challenges, with a reported cost nearing one billion dollars. The facility boasts 30 galleries, encompassing 11,600 square meters of indoor exhibition space and an additional 23,000 square meters of outdoor exhibition areas.
Strategically located, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is within walking distance of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which opened its doors in 2017, as well as the more recently unveiled Zayed National Museum and Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, emphasized that the new Guggenheim represents a pivotal moment in the region's cultural journey, promising to enrich the global art scene and foster greater understanding and appreciation of diverse artistic traditions.