Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of The Guardian, opened All of This Belongs to You speaking about The Guardian’s destroyed MacBook Air and Western Digital hard drives which are featured in the exhibition. These were destroyed under orders from GCHQ as they held leaked data from Edward Snowden. Initially considering their enforced destruction comparable to book burning, Rusbridger said he now recognizes the objects as “icons of the impotence of the state in the digital age”, giving a message of hope for countries where information is suppressed by their governments.
The MacBook and hard drives can be seen in the Ways to be Secret display, in gallery 76 of the museum. Follow the links below for more discussion of their role in the exhibition.
V&A Museum shows Guardian‘s destroyed MacBook as ART
Edward Snowden’s Smashed Laptop Belongs to Everyone
Destroyed Snowden laptop: the curatorial view
