Hundreds of protesters gathered at the British Museum to demonstrate against an exhibtion sponsored by oil giant BP.

Around 350 activists and artists were among the crowd expressing their anger against the display entitled "I am Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria".

Earlier in the week they had already staged their own exhibtion at central London’s P21 Gallery, scheduled to run until 2 March, and called "I am British Petroleum, King of Exploitation, king of Injustice".

At the “flash mob demonstration against the impact of BP’s role in Iraq" in the British Museum, activists formed a circle around the central rotunda of its Great Court using 200 metres of black fabric.

On it was painted with words and symbols, which they said represented "connections between BP sponsorship, climate change, looted artefacts and theIraq war“.

The key players in the Iraq War Show all 11 1 /11 The key players in the Iraq War The key players in the Iraq War Jack Straw Jack Straw was the UK foreign secretary at the time of the Iraq invasion, and fully endorsed the decision Getty The key players in the Iraq War Geoff Hoon Geoff Hoon was Tony Blair’s defence secretary from October 1999 to May 2005 Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Alastair Campbell Alastair Campbell was involved in the drafting of two Downing Street dossiers on the war, in September 2002 and in February 2003 Getty The key players in the Iraq War John Scarlett John Scarlett was chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the time of the 2003 invasion Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Peter Goldsmith Peter Goldsmith was Mr Blair’s attorney general from 2001 to 2007 AFP/Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice was named as National Security Advisor to George W Bush in 2000, becoming the first woman to occupy the post, and argued publicly in favour of the 2003 invasion Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Colin Powell Colin Powell was Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005 Getty Images for TIME The key players in the Iraq War Tommy Franks Tommy Franks was the leading US general at the start of the Iraq war The key players in the Iraq War Dick Cheney Dick Cheney was George W Bush’s vice president from 2001 to 2009 Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Paul Bremer Paul Bremer ran Iraq for 14 months after the invasion, appointed Bush’s Presidential Envoy in charge of the occupying forces Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Hans Blix Hans Blix was the UN weapons inspector tasked with monitoring Iraq from 2002 to 2003 Getty Images

It also incorporated artwork by Kurdish Iraqi artist Mariwan Jalal.

Organisers, BP or Not BP, said it was a challenge to the oil giant's sponsorship of the Assyrian exhibition including objects from what is now known as Iraq.

Participants also delivered over 200 messages to the British Museum, demanding it “ends its relationship with BP, returns stolen objects and addresses its colonial past.”

Jeremy Corbyn: We must hold Blair to account on Iraq war

One of the protest's organisers Mattina Hiwaizi said: “As a Kurd, I can really see the detrimental impact BP has had on the environment and people of the Middle East. We would like the British Museum to drop BP as a sponsor and give a platform to Iraqi voices.”

The 23-year-old added BP’s sponsorship of the exhibition at the British Museum was “a disgusting business agreement with the British Museum continuing to build on its colonial past and with BP exploiting the institute’s questionable politics.”

UK-born Iraqi photo-journalist Ahmed Twaij said the museum was “white-washing BP’s role in Iraq” while BP itself was capitalising on Iraqi oil to promote Iraqi artefacts in an exhibition inaccessible to the country’s own citizens.

Iraqi activist and co-curator Maryam Hussein added: “We haven’t even approached the question of how the British Museum acquired these artefacts. The outrageous collaboration of the British Museum and BP makes us more adamant to demand accountability.

"Last summer, 100,000 people were hospitalised in Basra because of the state of the water there, an area where BP is subcontracted the third largest oil field in the world.”