LONDON.- This autumn Foundling Museum Trustee and Turner Prize-winning artist, Jeremy Deller, invites Jonny Banger, designer and owner of subversive fashion label Sports Banger, to show the work he gathered from the nation’s children during lockdown. A selection of over 200 works from The Covid Letters will go on display at the Foundling Museum from Saturday 24 October.

As the country went into lockdown, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, wrote a letter intended for every household in the UK, urging residents to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives. In response, Banger invited young people, under the age of 16, to customise the letter, as a way of articulating their feelings – including about the Government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, and the NHS. The social media call out was straightforward: ‘if you’ve received a letter, design a poster’. The rules too were simple: you must be under 16 years of age, draw straight onto the letter itself and ‘no digital’.

Banger received entries from across the UK, from toddlers to teenagers, which ranged from a simple scribble and calls to support the NHS with more PPE, to anti-government graffiti. Using pens, pencils, paint and collage, children took the opportunity to make their voices heard. Banger shared images of these ‘defaced’ letters on his Instagram feed, giving children a platform on which to share their views. All of the children who entered received a certificate (making them an honorary pirate of the ‘Banger Fleet’), a bootleg Blue Peter badge, and a couple of t-shirts. For a lot of children this was the first piece of post they had ever received.

Sports Banger started as an underground clothing company. Arguably one of the most sought after clothing lines right now, a label that would define bootlegging for the modern age, Sports Banger is known for its appropriation of classic sports brands, political messaging and sharp humour. The idea for The Covid Letters came to Banger when someone, on receiving their Sports Banger t-shirt the same day as receiving the Prime Minister’s letter said on social media, ‘One of these is going in the bin’. The re appropriation of Johnson’s letter is similar to the bootlegging style of Sports Banger – by offering children the opportunity to react so directly, the letter is transformed into a tool for protest, dialogue and debate. A book containing all of the entries is due to be published in October.

Speaking about the project, Banger said: ‘I couldn’t be happier using my platform to give kids a voice. Little anarchists spreading joy. The Foundling Museum is an important part of the social history of London and the UK, it’s story more relevant than ever. I’m so happy the exhibition is showing here, it actually means something.’




Speaking about his invitation to Jonny Banger, Jeremy Deller said: ‘The Covid Letters are the best art to come out of lockdown, I am very jealous. They are funny, naughty and angry in equal measure. I can’t wait to see all the rudeness and righteousness in the same place, and in the same spaces as paintings by William Hogarth who I am sure would have loved this work.’

Speaking about the exhibition, Caro Howell, Director of the Foundling Museum, said: ‘The Covid Letters forms a vibrant, uncensored and emotional time capsule that captures the creative voices of children at a moment of huge national anxiety. While the Foundling Museum’s historic collections speak powerfully to the lives of children, it is wonderful to hear them speaking for themselves, through this exhibition.’

The Covid Letters will go on display in the Museum’s exhibition gallery, with letters also interspersed throughout its historic collections. Shown in the context of the Foundling Museum, this exhibition brings to life the museum’s 300-year-old story of creative campaigning and social justice. Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to support the Christmas food bank run by Sports Banger & Friends and the museum’s pioneering work with disadvantaged young people, through the purchase of Sports Banger merchandise and a limited-edition print.

Jonny Banger is an artist, raver and founder of UK-based clothing brand Sports Banger. Sports Banger’s studio and shop is located on Seven Sisters Road in London and was established in 2013. His first t-shirt design was FREE TULISA - in support of the British icon while she was being dragged through the mud by the tabloid media. This was followed by other hugely iconic t-shirts and designs earning the brand a cult following.

Banger’s work interrogates British pop culture, class and politics through the subversion and appropriation of branding. One of Sports Banger’s most infamous designs is the 2015 ‘NHS Nike’ in support of junior doctors. The t-shirt could be seen around London and had a viral response online, despite legal threats from the government.

The bootleg ‘NHS Nike’ design was re-released in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 lockdown measures. All sales profits were channeled into a programme feeding healthcare workers across London and a 6-month food bank at a North London primary school for families on free meal vouchers. This was co-ordinated by Jonny Banger and his team after receiving messages from teachers and nurses asking for help.

In 2019, Sports Banger staged two fashion shows away from the official London
Fashion Week schedule. In review of the Spring/Summer ‘20 show, Vogue
International called it, ‘arguably the most exciting show of London Fashion Week’.
Sports Banger is worn by ravers, rude boys, workers, kids and nurses. It’s a fastgrowing
rag-tag collective and everyone is invited.