The Powerhouse Museum has been accused of censoring one of its latest exhibitions, after newspapers critical of Rupert Murdoch were removed from the Disobedient Objects exhibit at the last minute. The exhibition, which opened at the museum last week, features objects of political activism “by people collectively taking design into their own hands to make a change in the world”. When originally exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, it included two political newspapers, which according to a source close to the exhibit were “produced in 1986 during the London Wapping dispute (between printworkers and Rupert Murdoch’s News International, it was a real turning point for labour struggles in the UK, alongside the more famous miner’s strike)”.

The pictures are not included in the current exhibit, and curators in the UK were told it was because of the relationship between News Corp and the gallery. The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph are media partners of the museum. We approached the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (the parent organisation of the Powerhouse Museum) for comment, and were told “the agreement with Victoria and Albert Museum, London advised MAAS to seek independent legal advice on content in the exhibition. As a result of the legal advice we received, two objects were removed from display.”

Disobedient Objects picture