Verena Formanek is an international curator and artist, and a former Senior Project Manager for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, designed by Frank Gehry. She previously worked with the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) and the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi). She currently works as a freelance curator, as well as a collection and museum advisor. Her recent curatorial project, Evaporating Suns: Contemporary Myths from the Arabian Gulf, was presented at KBH.G in Basel in collaboration with Dirwaza Curatorial Lab, Abu Dhabi. Previously, she led the development and strategic implementation of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, overseeing curatorial, architectural, structural, financial, and organizational aspects of the project. Her role also included strategic planning for the pre-opening phase of the Abu Dhabi Cultural District, envisioned as the world’s largest concentration of museums.

Before joining TDIC’s Cultural Department, Formanek was the Director of Collections at the Museum for Design, Zürich, where she established a competence center for its four major
collections: arts and crafts, graphic design, poster collection, and design focused on swiss topics. She also developed the museum’s collection strategy, supervised acquisitions, and enhanced the public positioning of the collection in directing the publication named Wertewandel, published by Hatje-Cantz, the museum’s first catalogue raisonné of all it´s collection items, designed by Irma Boom.

Additionally, she extended the public knowledge about the Swiss collections in featuring an exhibition named Every Thing Design presented by Atelier OI, Neuchatel.

From 1994, she served as Deputy Artistic Director of the Fondation Beyeler in Basle, Switzerland, working closely with Ernst Beyeler and Markus Brüderlin(+) in establishing the
Foundation, designed by Renzo Piano. Her responsibilities included exhibitions, collection management, and institutional organization.

In Vienna, she was Deputy Director of the MAK (Museum of Applied/Contemporary Arts) which reopened in 1993 after extensive renovations. She also led the cultural project management for renowned contemporary artist interventions within the museum’s permanent collection, collaborating with artists such as Jenny Holzer, Donald Judd, Günther Förg, Gangart,Heimo
Zobernig, Gregor Eichinger, Manfred Wakolbinger and Barbara Bloom.

She is currently based in Zürich, Basle and Vienna.