Family, Friends and Dignitaries Gather in Birzeit to Bid Farewell to Renowned Palestinian Artist Sliman Mansour

Sliman Mansour, celebrated as one of Palestine's greatest artists and a 'Giant of Arab art', was laid to rest yesterday in his hometown of Birzeit. Family, friends, cultural figures, and senior officials gathered to pay their final respects.

The passing of the 79-year-old artist was announced on Monday, with funeral arrangements scheduled for Wednesday, August 26, at 5pm at St Peter’s Church in Birzeit. Following the burial, condolences were received at the town's Grand Hall. A large crowd of mourners followed the hearse, led by church leaders and uniformed bagpipe players.

The open casket was draped in olive branches, a prominent motif in many of Mansour's most famous works. With mourners spilling into the surrounding streets, Imad Haddad, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, remarked during the service: 'Many knew his paintings, his colours and his symbol. Many saw Palestine through his eyes and his brush.'

Artist Khaled Hourani shared his sentiments with AFP, stating, 'From the moment the news of his death spread, it was as if all of Palestine was in mourning ... a great loss for Palestinian culture, and it truly feels as though an entire era has ended.'

Additional condolence gatherings took place at The Palestinian Museum in Birzeit on Thursday and at the Terra Sancta Pastoral Centre in Beit Hanina, Jerusalem, on Friday.

The death was announced by Mansour’s family on his verified Instagram account. While no cause of death was disclosed, the family released a statement reading, 'The final chapter has been written. With hearts heavy beyond words, we share that our beloved father has passed away.'

Born in Birzeit, near Ramallah, in 1947, Mansour spent over five decades at the forefront of Palestinian art. After graduating from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem in 1970, his work continually shaped a visual language for Palestinian identity through landscapes, olive trees, traditional embroidery, and depictions of Jerusalem.