Meet French guerrilla artist “Princess Hijab”

Guerrilla artists are known for their ability to shock and awe with their artwork, combining irony with social criticism in their pieces. Nothing is too sacred to be tackled by the mighty swoosh of their brush or wave of the spray can. Not even religion. Meet Princess Hijab, a paris-based guerrilla artist who leaves her […]

Guerrilla artists are known for their ability to shock and awe with their artwork, combining irony with social criticism in their pieces. Nothing is too sacred to be tackled by the mighty swoosh of their brush or wave of the spray can. Not even religion.

Meet Princess Hijab, a paris-based guerrilla artist who leaves her mark by “hijabizing” lightly-dressed women in advertisements. Using a large paint marker, Princess Hijab tours the metros and public spaces of Paris, covering images of women with black veils or chadors (body-length veils).


Princess Hijab joins other famous guerrilla artists in commenting on veils: London-based Banksy, who held an exhibition in Bristol, UK, last summer, had a piece titled “How do you like your eggs” that also stirred controversy (photo by author).

Her work clearly stirs much emotion in a city like Paris: simultaneously the capitol of a nation stuck in a bitter battle over the question of public veiling vis-a-vis laicité, and a city known as the epicenter of art and fashion.

With her pieces, then, Princess Hijab has been successful in raising ire within both Muslim and secular circles. She brings out the controversy on both sides. The veil can often be a source of empowerment for Muslim women, allowing a privacy from judging or prying eyes. In the West, however, it ironically has the opposite consequence of drawing stares.

Questions remain as to who Princess Hijab is and whether or not she dons the veil.

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