It so sad to hear about the death of the great Palestinian master Sliman Mansour. His family released a statement on the artist’s instagram on Monday 24 August, announcing his passing:
“The final chapter has been written.
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. But to us, we lost a father, our source of love, strength, and home.
Though his journey in this world has come to an end, his spirit, his work, and his love will remain with us always.
May he rest in eternal peace, surrounded by the light and beauty he gave so generously to this world.”
I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to interview him in The Culturelist’s series The Great Big Questions and get his thoughts on creativity and art.
In the interview he mentioned that his current illness has been a distraction from his work, and it was amazing to me that he was indeed, still producing intricate and epic imagery of which he is so fondly known for.
How lucky are we to have had such a sensitive and creative force who showed us the meaning of strength, poetry, beauty, pride, story, and also resistance through art.
Mansour understood the power of the human figure in its erect, graceful, proud posture, in its aching, hunched, suffering stance, all while being defiant and hopeful.
Equally he cherished geometry, the land, materiality (how can he not?) using earth as material into his work to speak, remember, capture his homeland.
When I asked him where he thinks creativity comes from, the answer I got was simple and perfect:
“Creativity and ideas come from thinking deeply in a topic for a long period of time.”
Every work he created reflects this ethos - traditions, culture, stories, a world he reminded us about, he reimagined for us weaving in splendour and pride, a result of his deep thinking which I’m sure was deeper than we will ever understand.
To honour his legacy, I wanted to share ten of Mansour’s art works that have left a lasting impact in the landscape of Arab art and on me personally. I have decided not to write descriptions for these works, because in so many ways, Mansour’s work speaks for itself, and needs to be experienced on a pictorial level where he combines imagery and symbolism to tell a story.
Rest in peace great Sliman Mansour, you have left the Arab world with a body of work, a timeless legacy like no other which we will forever cherish and strive to honour.
The Carrier of Hardships, 1973
Sad Tunes, 1977
The Daughter of Jerusalem, 1978
A Woman Carrying Jerusalem, 1979
Jerusalem Hoash, 1980
Symbol of Hope, 1985
Shrinking Object, 1996
The Immigrant, 2017
Holy Family in an Olive Grove, 2020
From the River to the Sea, 2021
