04.11.2026 15:00
Artist Canan Tolon, winner of the Vehbi Koç Award, announced that her sculptures sent to her exhibition in London were found "suspicious" at customs and smashed with a sledgehammer. The metal skeletons of the works, which were reportedly destroyed on the grounds that their interiors could not be imaged by the X-ray machine, were also confiscated. Reacting to what happened, Tolon said, "I don't understand why they made such an issue of this."
Vehbi Koç Award-winning sculptor Canan Tolon announced that her works planned to be exhibited at the Dirimart gallery in London were damaged at customs. Three parts of the installation the artist sent to London via the Bulgaria route were destroyed during security inspection. Tolon shared what happened on her social media account and stated that her works were smashed with a sledgehammer.
"THEY SMASHED THEM WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER BECAUSE THEY WERE SUSPICIOUS"
In her post, Canan Tolon noted that her sculptures were found suspicious at customs and used the following statements:
"They smashed my sculptures, which were going to my exhibition in London, with a sledgehammer at customs because they were suspicious. Metal fittings were also confiscated as required by procedure."
In the photos shared by the artist, the concrete sculptures were seen in pieces, and a sledgehammer was visible next to the rubble scattered around.
"THEY OPENED THEM BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T SEE INSIDE"
Speaking to Faruk Ekici from T24, Tolon said she had difficulty understanding what happened and did not want to wrongly accuse anyone.
"There are so many sculptures entering and leaving Turkey—marble, stone. I mean, I haven't understood why they fixated on this like that. It was an installation going from the Bulgaria route to London. These were three parts of the installation. I mean, they opened them up as if with great pleasure because they couldn't see inside."
METAL FRAMES WERE ALSO SEIZED
Explaining that she learned the sculptures were damaged from photos sent by the gallery, Tolon stated that the canvases prepared for the exhibition were not damaged. The artist said she wanted the iron skeletons inside the works to be preserved, but stated that the metal fittings were also confiscated on procedural grounds.
No precise information was shared about at which customs point the incident occurred.