Valerie Hillings Appointed Inaugural Director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Valerie Hillings, currently director of the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) in Raleigh, has been named the inaugural director of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which is set to open in December. Hillings previously served as associate director of curatorial affairs at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi from 2009 to 2018, where she developed the museum's collection in partnership with Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism. Her eight-year tenure at NCMA was marked by a focus on acquiring works by women, LGBTQIA+, minority, and local artists, as well as the "People's Collection" initiative. Before NCMA, she worked at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation from 2004 to 2018, starting at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan. The appointment comes amid ongoing controversy over labor conditions for migrant workers who built the museum on Saadiyat Island, alongside the Louvre Abu Dhabi and NYU campus. Protests and boycott calls have targeted the Guggenheim Foundation for over 15 years. The museum's collection and exhibitions will focus on art from 1960 onward, reflecting Abu Dhabi's role as a catalyst for creative production.