This week one of East London’s most culturally significant murals was defaced with a swastika, an unmistakable symbol of hate, sprayed across a beloved piece of artwork that has long stood for community and peace.
Created in 2010 by internationally renowned British street artist STIK, A Couple Hold Hands in the Street portrays a Muslim woman in a niqab reaching for the hand of another figure, both rendered in the artist’s signature minimalist aesthetic. Located on Princelet Street, directly beside the Brick Lane Mosque, the mural has become an enduring landmark and a quiet yet powerful expression of unity, love, and community.
STIK, A Couple Hold Hands in the Street. Image copyright Stik / GraffitiStreet 2018
The mural was painted by STIk in the aftermath of an attempted extremist attack on Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, STIK’s mural was a measured response to rising cultural tensions. “As a street artist you have to find a way to walk right on the parameters of freedom,” the artist remarked in an interview with The Telegraph. His intention was not to provoke, but to foster understanding and a silent yet unequivocal gesture of compassion and shared humanity.
Since its unveiling, the work has garnered both critical recognition and public affection. In 2017, it was voted the 17th most loved artwork in the United Kingdom, according to a Guardian readers’ poll, a testament to its emotional reach and cultural significance.
That message of unity was recently brought under assault. The mural was attacked with a thoughtless hate symbol, an act that sought to deface a woman and to undermine the values it represents: dignity, community and peace.
STIK’s response was immediate and resolute and characteristically understated.
Returning to the wall with the same tool that first brought the piece into existence, a spray can, he performed a silent act of reclamation. With precise intention, he removed the hateful mark and restored the mural to its original form. The action itself was the statement: an unspoken but deeply eloquent reaffirmation of the mural’s founding principle, resistance through compassion, and strength through unity.
This moment was captured and shared by the artist himself in a video posted to STIK’s official Instagram
In doing so, STIK reclaimed authorship of the work and reaffirmed his role as its cultural custodian. Street art is never static, It lives in the context of its environment, and in moments of tension, it becomes a mirror of both community and connection.
Today, more than a decade after its creation, A Couple Hold Hands in the Street continues to resonate. Its message, delivered through simplicity, has only deepened with time. The two figures remain, hand in hand. Their presence, tender, now also carries the power of defiance.
In an era marked by division and volatility, STIK’s mural endures a powerful message …
Love over hate. Always.
