Valerie Hillings appointed inaugural Director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi has appointed Dr Valerie Hillings as the inaugural Director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

Hillings will lead the museum’s strategic direction, oversee its opening exhibitions and programmes, and help establish its institutional identity ahead of its opening on 11 December 2026.

Previous work with Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Hillings already has extensive experience with the museum. 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.

During this period, she worked with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi on the museum’s collection strategy and acquisitions, pre-opening programme and Frank Gehry-designed building. She previously spent five years on the Guggenheim’s curatorial team in New York.

Since 2018, Hillings has served as Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art. There, she led the reimagining of the museum’s permanent collection galleries, oversaw the acquisition of approximately 400 works and helped double annual attendance to 1.2 million visitors.

She holds a PhD and MA in Art History and Archaeology from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and an AB in Art History from Duke University, specialising in modern and contemporary art.

About Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Located in the Saadiyat Cultural District, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will present modern and contemporary art from the 1960s to the present through its collection, exhibitions, commissions, research and public programmes.

The museum will contain 30 galleries across 11,600 square metres of interior exhibition space, alongside 23,000 square metres of outdoor exhibition areas.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi joins Louvre Abu Dhabi, Zayed National Museum, Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi and teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi within the Saadiyat Cultural District.