Stormzy’s Banksy-designed stab vest among display items at London exhibition

Stormzy’s Banksy-designed stab-proof vest, worn during his 2019 headline set at Glastonbury, is going on display at The Music Is Black: A British Story.

It’s among many other items celebrating Black British music at the new exhibition, set to open on April 18 as the very first installation at London’s new V&A East museum in the Olympic Park.

Described as a “landmark” exhibition, The Music Is Black chronicles Black music-making in Britain over the span of 125 years, telling the story of "excellence and struggle, resilience and joy”.

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Stormzy’s vest, which features a spray-painted Union Jack design from Banksy as a symbol of national identity and prejudice, is one of the main centrepieces of the exhibition, per the BBC.

Exhibition curator Jacqueline Springer told the BBC: "That's the beauty of street art, of graffiti, of rap music, is that it's making you think constantly about issues you don't really want to confront.”

"This is about ambition pursued against legal restriction, against moral and against racial discrimination. What we're looking at here is the way that art always penetrates, always gets through."

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Other items set to go on display include stage outfits from Seal and Poly Styrene, handwritten Michael Jackson lyrics, and Joan Armatrading's childhood guitar.

The exhibition will be split into four parts in a “multi-sensory experience”, displaying over 200 objects from 1990 to the modern day. It includes fashion items, instruments, technology, personal writings, lyrics, paintings, and much more.

The Music Is Black also features over 60 “newly acquired” photographs of legendary artists like Kemistry and Storm, Mis-Teeq, and Skepta, with pieces from across four continents.

Find out more about The Music Is Black: A British Story here.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X