Born in 1947 in Birzeit, Palestine.
Sliman Mansour is one of the most recognized and distinguished Palestinian artists. Throughout his forty-year career, Mansour has established himself internationally, dedicated to providing a visual expression of Palestinian identity. He studied Fine Arts at the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem. Since the 1970s, he has contributed to the development of a visual iconography of the Palestinian struggle through his works on paper.
In 1987, together with artists Vera Tamari, Tayseer Barakat and Nabil Anani, Mansour founded New Visions, a collective formed in response to the First Intifada, 1987-1993. While fostering a revolutionary approach to aesthetics in Palestinian art, the artists participated in the uprising by boycotting art supplies imported from Israel. Working instead with natural materials such as coffee, henna, and clay. The artists tied the process of art making to both the land and the struggle.
He has contributed extensively to the development of an infrastructure for the fine arts in the West Bank. He was the head of the League of Palestinian artists from 1986 until 1990. In 1994, Mansour co-founded the Al-Wasiti Art Center in East Jerusalem and served as its director from 1995 until 1996. He is a member of the founding board of directors at the International Academy of Art in Palestine. He has taught at numerous cultural institutions and universities throughout the West Bank, including the Al-Quds University.
Mansour participated in many exhibitions which include: The 1st Exhibition of the League of Palestinian Artists in Palestine, 1975; The International Art Exhibition for Palestine in Beirut, Lebanon, 1978; The Third World and Japan in Tokyo, 1979; The National Museum of Oriental Arts in Moscow, 1980; a Solo show at Galerie 79 in Ramallah, Palestine, 1981; Art Under Occupation at the National Museum in Kuwait, 1982; the Birzeit Festival in Palestine, 1984; the Inaugural Exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, France, 1987; It’s Possible at Cooper Union in New York, U.S.A., 1988; the First Festival of Palestinian Culture in Cairo, Egypt, 1989; Festival d’Asilah in Asilah, Morocco, 1990; Occupation and Resistance at The Other Museum in New York, U.S.A., 1990; New Visions at the National Museum of Jordan in Amman, Jordan, 1991; a Solo show at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington D.C., U.S.A., 1993; Sans Title at the French Cultural Center in Jerusalem, 1994; the Sharjah Biennale in Sharjeh the United Arab Emirates, 1995; Artistes Palestiniens Contemporains at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, France, 1997; Seven Palestinian Artists at Darat al Funun in Amman, Jordan, 1997; the Seventh International Cairo Biennale in Cairo, Egypt, 1998; Made in Palestine at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, Texas, the United States of America, 2003; Contemporary Graphic Art from the Arab World at the Nabad Gallery in Amman, Jordan, 2010; Sliman Mansour: Terrains of Belonging, a retrospective at al-Hoash, Jerusalem, 2011; Art Palestine at the Meem Gallery in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, 2011; a Group Exhibition at Gallery One in Palestine, 2014; And last but not least, the Rendezvous Exhibition at Zawyeh Gallery in Ramallah, 2016.
Mansour’s works are part of many main international collections including: the collection of Mathaf-Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha; Barjeel Art Foundation collection, Bank of Palestine collection; Dalloul Art Foundation collection; British Museum collection; Guggenheim Abu Dhabi collection; Institut du Monde Arabe collection; the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts collection; Darat Al Funun collection; Dar El-Nimer for Arts & Culture collection; and many more. His works are also part of some important private collections such as George Al Ama’s collection; Rana Sadek’s collection; and Zahi Khouri’s collection; amongst many others.