A young Paris-based guerilla street artist who calls herself Princess Hijab has been “hijabizing” advertisements, spray-painting veils and body-length chadors onto the lightly dressed models. The mysterious artist, who remains anonymous, says she is fighting Jihad through art.
In the online gallery of her “hijabizing” of ad campaigns, lightly clad models in ads for Virgin Music and various clothing companies have been re-dressed by the Princess in veils and chadors, their eyes popping out of face-covering hijabs. They are striking as much as they are irreverent, and they have caused anger in both Muslim and secular circles.
Princess Hijab claims that her hijab campaigns are not plastered on the streets of Paris as an act of “art for art’s sake”, but instead represent a part of what she calls “art propositions for a more global idea.” In this global idea, Princess Hijab pursues what she calls her “noble cause”, or her “anti-advertising movement” in an attempt to fight today’s mainstream and sexist consumerism.
Her works will be on display in an exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York between May 22 and August 29, 2009. The exhibition “The Seen and the Hidden: Dis_Covering the Veil” is going to show numerous pieces of art around the veil, including also Marjane Satrapi’s famous graphic novels and many other works of (Western) Muslim artists.
Princess Hijab’s websites:
Personal Website
MySpace Page
More information:
“The Seen and the Hidden: Dis_Covering the Veil”
May 22 to Aug 29, 2009
Austrian Cultural Forum, New York
Event Website
