The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi announced that the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum will open to the public on December 11, 2026. The museum is located in the Saadiyat Island Cultural District. The project was announced in 2006, construction began in 2011, was paused for several years, and resumed in 2019.

The new museum will be the largest of the four Guggenheim museums worldwide, along with sites in New York, Venice, and Bilbao. The complex covers a total of 80 000 square meters, including 11 600 square meters of indoor gallery space (the building contains 30 galleries of varying configurations) and 23 000 square meters of outdoor exhibition space.

The building was designed by the late architect Frank Gehry. Its dominant feature is ten sculptural cones, each up to 88 meters tall, surrounding a central atrium—nine of which are clad in stainless steel mesh, and one in onyx and glass. In addition to exhibition halls, the complex will include an art and technology center, children's areas, an archive, a library, and a restoration laboratory.

The museum's collection has been developing since 2009 and encompasses modern and contemporary art primarily since 1960; the exhibition is organized thematically rather than chronologically. The official construction cost has not been disclosed.

The opening of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi continues the emirate's cultural strategy: Saadiyat Island already hosts the Louvre Abu Dhabi (opened in 2017) and the Zayed National Museum (opened in December 2025). In November, shortly before the museum's opening, Abu Dhabi will host the first international art fair, Frieze Abu Dhabi.