Sliman Mansour, widely celebrated as a foundational pillar of contemporary Palestinian art, has passed away at the age of 79. His family announced the passing in a statement on social media, writing that the final chapter has been written for a beloved father who provided a profound source of love, strength, and home.

Born in the West Bank town of Birzeit in 1947, only months before the Nakba, Mansour graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem in 1970, launching a career spanning more than five decades that profoundly shaped the visual language of Palestinian national identity.

Throughout his lifetime, his iconic works captured the realities of displacement, deep-rooted connections to the land, and cultural endurance, frequently integrating traditional motifs like embroidery and olive trees.

Beyond his canvas, Mansour dedicated his life to institutionalizing and protecting Palestinian arts, co-founding the Al-Wasiti Art Centre in East Jerusalem in 1994 and later serving on the founding board of the International Academy of Art Palestine in Ramallah.