Valerie Hillings Named Inaugural Director of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi named Valerie Hillings its inaugural director after confirming the museum’s opening date for this coming December. Hillings previously worked on the Abu Dhabi project as associate director of curatorial affairs from 2009 to 2018 and returns to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation after leading the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh for nearly eight years. At NCMA, she advanced the “People’s Collection” strategy, emphasizing acquisitions by women, LGBTQIA+, minority, and local artists. Her appointment comes amid long-running controversy over alleged exploitation and forced labor conditions for migrant workers involved in building the Frank Gehry–designed museum on Saadiyat Island, which has prompted protests and boycott calls for 15 years.
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This story was covered in Restitution Returns, Museums Face the Axe