Princess Hijab

I found our discussion in class about culture jamming very interesting, so much so that I did some social media investigating of my own online. And after about twenty minutes of Googling I came across "Princess Hijab". She is a Paris based jammer who is responsible for works such as the one seen below.




Some European countries, especially France, Switzerland and Belgium, have a hard time meshing cultures with and being accepting to the traditions on their Islamic neighbors. For example the Swiss voted to ban the construction of a mosque. And recently in France there has been a call for a ban on the Muslim women wearing a veil in public. This is already in place in Belgium, it is now fully banned in a vote that passed with widespread support in that nation's lower legislative house. Around the same time that these anti-Islamic laws and bans were being passed, vandalized advertisements, like the one above, started showing up in Paris metro stations. Princess Hijab draws the veils on fashion models in all sorts of advertisements. She uses think black dripping paint and, although it is contrary to Islamic tradition, even gives veils to the males in the advertisements. Although the ‘Princess of Paint’ is not necessarily making a statement about the advertisements themselves, she is using the hegemonic fashion industry in Paris to make a statement about the bans in Europe. She is forcing Paris to confront the hijab and the Muslim culture on their own advertisements. It is eye catching and challenging to see something they banned- now put on their own creations.