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Sliman Mansour

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Sliman Mansour
سليمان منصور
Mansour in 2009
Born(1947-07-27)27 July 1947
Birzeit, Ramallah, Mandatory Palestine
Died24 August 2026(2026-08-24) (aged 79)
East Jerusalem, Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territories
Resting place
Birzeit, Ramallah and al-Bireh, Palestine
Other names
  • Suleiman Mansour
  • Suliman Mansour
EducationBezalel Academy of Arts and Design
Occupations
  • Visual artist
  • author
  • cartoonist
Known for
  • Painting
  • sculpture
Notable workThe Camel of Hardships (1973)
StyleContemporary Palestinian art
MovementLiberation Art Movement
Websiteslimanmansour.com

Sliman Mansour (also Suleiman or Suliman; Arabic: سليمان منصور; 27 July 1947 – 24 August 2026) was a Palestinian painter, sculptor, author, and cartoonist, considered a leading figure among contemporary Palestinian artists. He was considered an artist of intifada whose work captured the cultural concept of sumud.[1] His paintings, which have been exhibited around the world, reflect the Palestinian struggle and include images of women in traditional clothing and Levantine tree-filled landscapes. In 1987, he was part of the New Visions collective that boycotted Israeli supplies and instead used local natural Palestinian materials.

Palestinian artist and scholar Samia Halaby has identified Mansour as part of the Liberation Art Movement and cited his important work as an artist and cultural practitioner before and after the First Intifada.[2]

Life and career

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Mansour was born on 27 July 1947,[3] one year before the Nakba, in Birzeit north of Jerusalem. He studied art at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, graduating in 1970.[4] At the academy, he was taught abstract expressionism, a trend he did not want to study since he wanted to paint more realistic subjects from life.[5] He developed a realist style of painting, depicting the daily life of those living and rooted in Palestine.

In 1987, together with other Palestinian artists such as Vera Tamari, Tayseer Barakat, and Nabil Anani, Mansour founded "New Visions", a collective formed in response to the First Intifada (1987–1993).[6] This collective turned to earthworks and mixed media and assemblage using natural materials derived from the Palestinian environment in order to boycott Israeli art supplies in protest of the ongoing occupation.[7] Mansour used mud for the soil. His childhood memories of working with his grandmother when she was building beehives and ovens with mud inspired him. He was always around her, trying to help: "So when I thought about material that I could use, mud was the first thing that came to my mind. After a while, once I started making figures, I realized that the mud also reflects the human fate with the cracks, people waiting to disappear, fall down and go away."[5]

In 1988 he made a series of four paintings on destroyed Palestinian villages, the four villages being Yibna, Yalo, Imwas and Bayt Dajan.[8]

He was a co-author of the book Both Sides of Peace: Israeli and Palestinian Political Poster Art, published in 1998 by the Contemporary Art Museum with University of Washington Press.[3] Mansour wrote two books on traditional Palestinian clothing and embroidery.[citation needed]

Mansour contributed extensively to the development of an infrastructure for the fine arts in Palestine. He taught at numerous cultural institutions and universities, including Al-Quds University.[9] He was the head of the League of Palestinian Artists from 1986 to 1990. In 1994, Mansour co-founded al-Wasiti Art Center in East Jerusalem.[9] He was a member of the Founding Board of Directors of the International Academy of Art Palestine, established in 2004.[citation needed]

He was a contributing artist to the I Witness Silwan art installation in East Jerusalem.[10]

Mansour died in Jerusalemon 24 August 2026, at the age of 79,[3][4][11] having been treated at Makassed Hospital[12] for a long illness.[13] A funeral was held two days later at St. Peter's Anglican Church in his native Birzeit, where his body was buried.[12][14]

Publications

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  • Sliman Mansour, Nabil Anani: Catalog of the Palestinian Embroidery motifs
  • Sliman Mansour, Nabil Anani: Guide to the Palestinian Art of Embroidery. Amman: Inaash Al-Usra Association and Al Abliyya Publishing, 2011. (Language of Book: Arabic, contains enough imagery to be enjoyed and used by non-Arabic speakers)

Awards

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  • 1998 – Grand Nile Prize, Seventh Cairo Biennial, Egypt
  • 1998 – Palestine Prize for the Visual Arts
  • 2019 – UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture
  • 2025 – Necip Fazıl Awards, Istanbul, Turkey

Bibliography

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  • Made in Palestine Exhibition Catalogue by James Harithas. Station Museum, May-October, 2003 / preface by Tarif Abboushi; introduction by James Harithas; essays by Tex Kerschen ... [et al.]. Houston: Ineri Publishing and Station Museum, 2003. ISBN 0-9659458-1-2 (The first museum exhibition of contemporary Palestinian art in the USA, went on to tour throughout the country.[15])
  • Visit Palestine: A Voyage Through Contemporary Art, exhibition catalog. Amman: Gallery 4 Walls, 2005.
  • Gannit Ankori: Palestinian Art. London: Reaktion Books, 2006. ISBN 978-1-86189-259-1. Pages 60–92.[16]
  • Annelys de Vet (with the help of Palestinian artists, photographers and designers): Subjective Atlas of Palestine. 010 Publishers, 2007 ISBN 978-90-6450-648-2 & Subjective Editions, 2024 ISBN 978-906-450-648-2 (Contributors: Sameh Abboushi, Majd Abdel Hamid, Senan Abdelqader, Mohammed Amous, Tayseer Barakat, Sami Bandak, Baha Boukhari, Mahmoud Darwish (poem), Reem Fadda, Shadi Habib Allah, Majdi Hadid, Shuruq Harb, Dima Hourani, Khaled Hourani Munther Jaber, Khaled Jarrar, Abed Al Jubeh, Hassan Khader (foreword), Yazan Khalili, Sliman Mansour, Basel Al Maqousi, Sani P. Meo, Inas Moussa, Hafez Omar, Hosni Radwan, Awatef Rumiyah, Ahmad Saleem, Shareef Sarhan, Majed Shala, Sami Shana’ah, Maissoon Sharkawi, Mamoun Shrietch, Lena Sobeh, Mohanad Yaqubi, Inass Yassin)
  • Faten Nastas Mitwasi (artist and art coordinator at the Art Museum of Bethlehem): Sliman Mansour: Ein Künstler aus Palästina. Standhaftigkeit und Kreativität = an artist from Palestine : steadfastness & creativity [Hrsg.: Jerusalemverein e.V. im Berliner Missionswerk in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Internationalen Begegnungszentrum Bethlehem/Palästina; Übersetzung: Almut Nothnagle (deutsch), Khalil Touma (englisch), Salameh Rizqallah (arabisch)]. Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86568-370-0 (Languages: German, English, and Arabic)
  • Sliman Mansour (with essays by Bashir Makhoul, Nicola Gray and Tina Sherwell). Jerusalem: Palestinian Art Court-Al Hoash, 2011. ISBN 978-9950-352-01-8

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Ankori 2006, p. 74
  2. ↑ Farhat, Maymanah (22 June 2012). "On "Liberation Art" and Revolutionary Aesthetics: An Interview with Samia Halaby". Jadaliyya. Archived from the original on 22 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Rogers, Sarah. "Sliman Mansour". Mathaf Encyclopedia. Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. Archived from the original on 25 August 2026. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 Mullally, William (24 August 2026). "Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour dies aged 79". The National. Archived from the original on 24 August 2026. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 Hofmann, Sarah Judith (15 May 2018). "Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour will not leave Israel despite not feeling free". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 15 May 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Middlebury College Awards Eight Kellogg Fellowships". Middlebury News and Announcements. 21 August 2023. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Farhat, Maymanah (3 July 2013). "Between Exits: Paintings by Hani Zurob". Jadaliyya. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  8. ↑ Ankori 2006, p. 82
  9. 1 2 Smith, Harrison (29 August 2026). "Sliman Mansour has died. His art became a symbol of Palestinian resilience". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
  10. ↑ Bishara, Hakim (28 July 2021). "Murals Watch Over Jerusalem Neighborhood, a Silent Protest Against Displacement". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 21 January 2026. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  11. ↑ "رحيل الفنان سليمان منصور أحد أبرز مؤسسي الحركة التشكيلية الفلسطينية". The New Arab (in Arabic). 24 August 2026. Archived from the original on 26 August 2026. Retrieved 24 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 Rimawi, Issam (26 August 2026). "Funeral ceremony held in Ramallah for renowned Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 27 August 2026 – via Reuters Connect.
  13. ↑ "Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour, giant of resistance art, dies aged 79". Al Jazeera English. 24 August 2026. Archived from the original on 25 August 2026. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Prominent Palestinian visual artist Sliman Mansour passed away on Monday evening at the age of 79, after decades dedicating his body of work with reflections on Palestinian identity, heritage, and struggle". The New Arab. 25 August 2026. Archived from the original on 25 August 2026. Retrieved 25 August 2026 – via YouTube.
  15. ↑ Cotter, Holland (24 March 2006). "Art Review: Made in Palestine". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Laïïdi-Hanieh, Adila (1 July 2007). "In the Mirror of the Occupier: Palestinian Art through Israeli Eyes". Journal of Palestine Studies. 36 (4): 65–72. doi:10.1525/jps.2007.36.4.65. ISSN 0377-919X.

Sources

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