He nourishes his art with Sumerian mythology: Born in Birzeit, Palestine in 1947, Sliman Mansour is a painter, sculptor, and cartoonist who played a very important role in shaping Palestinian modern art and creating a suitable ground for art in the occupied West Bank.
Having lost his father when he was four years old, Sliman continued his education as a boarder at the Evangelical Lutheran School. Here, he was interested in art from an early age, thanks to his German teacher who introduced him to European art history. At the age of 20, he entered the Bezalel Academy of Arts in Jerusalem, where he was introduced to European art theory. One of the few Palestinians at Bezalel, Mansour graduated in 1970 and immediately became a co-founder of the Palestinian Artists Union (1973). He was president of the union from 1979 to 1982 and then from 1986 to 1990. During the First Intifada period (1987-91), he supported the intifada by founding the art movement called New Vision with Nabil Anani, Tayseer Barakat and Vera Tamari. He founded the Al Wasiti Art Center in Jerusalem in 1994 and served as its director from 1995 to 1996. He was involved in the founding of the Palestine Contemporary Art Association (2004) and the International Academy of Arts (2006), both in Ramallah.
Mansour was born one year before the Nakba, which is extremely important in Palestinian history. His teenage years coincided with the Six-Day War. Between 1967 and 1970, while studying in West Jerusalem, which was already officially part of the state of Israel, he lived in East Jerusalem, which was occupied during the war. Their experiences were reflected in their work with elements such as alienation, boredom, and pressure.
Sliman Mansour (born 1947), is a Palestinian painter, sculptor, author and cartoonist, considered an leading figure among contemporary Palestinian artists. Mansour is considered an artist of intifada whose work captures to the cultural concept of sumud.
Undoubtedly, the artist's most famous work, The Camel of Hardships (1973), depicts the departure from Palestine occupied by Israel. An old man, whose fatigue can be seen, is in a completely empty area, taking Jerusalem with him to the place where he went into exile. Today, this iconic work is in the homes of many Palestinians living in exile and in the diaspora.
Although the original of this work was destroyed by a bombing, the artist painted the same painting again years later. Additionally, since there were no galleries or art centers in occupied Palestine until the 1990s, these and similar works were reproduced as posters or postcards. This work by Sliman Mansour was one of the most copied works.
Sliman Mansour founded the New Vision Movement together with Nabil Anani, Vera Tamari, and Tayseer Barakat in the 1990s. During this period, Sliman Mansour took great care to ensure that these villages were not forgotten by using the names of the destroyed and diminished Palestinian villages as the title of his works.
Sliman Mansour nourished his art from Sumerian mythology and traditional Islamic arts and successfully incorporated Palestinian motifs into his works.
The artist Jerusalem, who still supports the Palestinian resistance and never despairs about it, continues to live and produce works.
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https://slimanmansour.com/