Sculptures Smashed at Turkish Border Crossing

Three sculptures by Canan Tolon, bound for a solo exhibition at Dirimart’s London gallery, were broken apart with sledgehammers during a customs inspection at the Turkey–Bulgaria border.

In an Instagram post, Tolon wrote that the works were destroyed because they were ‘considered suspicious’, and that their metal armatures were seized as a matter of procedure. The three sculptures were the weighted components of a larger installation that also comprised metal elements and canvases; the canvases travelled in the same consignment and were unharmed.

Tolon, who learned of the damage from photographs sent by the gallery, said the pieces incorporated found objects she had kept for years and could not be remade.

Writing on X, Bekir Kaplan, a press and public relations adviser at Turkey’s trade ministry, said three concrete blocks were missing from the transport documents and showed a suspicious density on X-ray machines. According to Kaplan’s post, they were broken open with the driver’s consent and the paperwork identified the blocks neither as sculptures nor as artworks. 

The procedure, Kaplan said, was aimed at ‘undeclared goods’ rather than declared art. Kaplan added that objects resembling sculptures, paintings and marble blocks had previously been used in drug smuggling, and said he had contacted Tolon to convey his regret.

Tolon – who received the 25th Vehbi Koç Award in April, given by the foundation behind Arter, the contemporary art museum in Istanbul – called the episode unprecedented in her career and urged artists and galleries to scrutinise shipping routes and insurance terms.

The exhibition still appears due to open as planned on Tuesday. Dirimart was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

Canan Tolon: Too early Too late, Dirimart, London, 17 November – 19 December