Iconic Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour dies at 79

Iconic Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour, whose work became a symbol of Palestinian identity, memory, and resistance, has died at the age of 79, his family said late Monday.

“The final chapter has been written,” the family said in a statement. “With hearts heavy beyond words, we share that our beloved father has passed away.

“To the world, he leaves behind a life filled with beauty, memory, and a legacy that will continue to live through all those he touched,” it added.

The family said funeral and memorial details will be announced later.

Born in 1947 in the town of Birzeit near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Mansour was one of the most prominent figures in modern Palestinian art, working as a painter, sculptor, writer, and cartoonist.

For more than five decades, his works documented Palestinian struggle, displacement, attachment to land, and cultural memory, using symbols drawn from Palestinian history, heritage, and daily life.

In a 2024 interview with Anadolu, Mansour said he saw art as a way to “rehumanize” Palestinians amid attempts by “Israelis and the West” to dehumanize them.

“As artists and people who deal with culture, it’s our role to rehumanize the Palestinian people,” he said.

Mansour often placed land at the center of his work, saying: “Everybody is fighting about the land, and the land is my main inspiration.”

Among his best-known works is The Camel of Hardships, which depicts an elderly Palestinian man carrying Jerusalem on his back, an image that became one of the most recognizable symbols of Palestinian endurance.

In the same interview, Mansour said his message to Palestinians living outside their homeland was: “Don’t forget Palestine and Palestine is beautiful.”

​​​​​​​“In my art, there is no message of hate. It’s beauty and love,” he said.