3DVM The Three Dimensional Virtual Museum

The Artist:

Suliman Mansour is one of the leading Palestinian artists. Born in 1947 in Birzeit, Mansour’s formal academic education was at the Bezallel Art Academy in Jerusalem. He is a co-founder of the Wasiti Art Center in Jerusalem (Now director of the Center). He is also a member of the “New Vision” artist group, which focuses on the use of local material in artwork. Mansour is a cartoonist, art instructor, and author of two books on Palestinian folklore. Since 1975 his work has been exhibited in Palestine, Israel, the US, Japan, and Korea and many other Arab and European countries. He was head of the League of Palestinian Artists for four years. He also participated in the French Palestinian spring exhibit at the Paris Institut du Monde Arabe in 1997. He won the ‘Nile award” at the 1998 Cairo Biennial for his series of clay panels “I am Ismail”, and the Palestine Prize for the Visual arts in 1998.

His work:

Most famously known in Palestine for his work “Camels of hardship” (1973), Mansour’s work revolves around the Palestinian struggle. His earlier paintings depicted images of Palestinian peasants, paying great attention to the archetypal Palestinian woman donning her traditional dress. With the start of the first Intifada, under the influence of the “New Vision” art movement of which he was a member, Mansour started using local material in his artwork, like mud, henna…etc. His most recent work on display was “Ten years of Mud” (exhibited at the Sakakini in 2001) originating from the strife of the first Intifada, and showcasing his work of the past 10 years. The exhibit included numerous life size figures and relief paintings made of cracked clay and mud.