Today the British newspaper The Independent published this very rare interview with a very special street artist from Paris. Her/his name is Princess Hijab. I think it's worth knowing a bit about her/him...
Here is some insight into her/his motivation.
It's an enigma. We don't know if the artist is a she or a he. The "Princess" is working anonymously. But let’s call her ‘she’ for a minute…
Her street art performances consist in “veiling” the main characters on subway advertisements using black paint.
From diverse sources, she is about 23 years old.
To The Independent, she explained her nickname “combines French Revolution with ethnic minorities”.
She strikes at night, essentially in the Paris’ underground, and targets primarily pictures of half-naked women and men on French adverts.
In The Guardian, my favourite British newspaper, last November, Angelique Chrisfalis wrote that Princess Hijab calls it “hijabisation” and that “her guerrilla niqab art has been exhibited from New York to Vienna, sparking debates about feminism and fundamentalism”.
But she never said if she was a Muslim herself, she just uses the symbol of the hijab as a provocation, in a very tensed society, where the current government doesn’t hesitate to stigmatise immigrants or immigrants’ children, born in France.
Her “work” is only visible for a few minutes, an hour maximum, as the Paris’ metropolitan underground takes care of erasing any form of intervention on its wall. But you might bump into it some day or another, as it is getting more and more visible. Yet, as a person, she remains invisible.
More below!
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Rare interview with urban artist Princess Hijab
We talk to the graffiti artist who works in the Paris underground at night 'hijabising' posters and billboard advertising
By Matilda Battersby - The Independent - June 17, 2011
Princess Hijab is an elusive graffiti artist who goes around Paris scrawling hijabs and burqas in black marker onto the faces of men and women on posters.
She is out to ‘hijabise’ advertising by targeting cosmetic brands and well-known models, seeming to ask if hiding a face behind a veil is any different from hiding one behind make-up and air brushing.
In a rare interview, the artist explains in her own words (with the help of a translator via email) her motivation:
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Street art is how I build my universe, giving form to my imaginary representations. Paris - the city, the identities, fashion and society- it offers me nearly inexhaustible inspiration. It nourishes my urban expression.
When I engulf myself in the entrails of Paris and sneak amongst the travellers I visit my kingdom incognito, thus getting my bearings to say so.
I apprehend advertising in order to transform it. The image of women in publicity is a feature, a fetishist representation of the moment.
My work is nothing to do with the veil ban in France. I’ve repeatedly stated: "No that is not my message, neither in the form, nor in the content of my stuff”. I started working in 2005 [before the ban was imposed] on top of that...
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The whole interview here:
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