Every outdoor sculpture on Avenue Winston Churchill outside the Grand Palais, installed for Art Basel Paris's public program, is being dismantled early, Hyperallergic reported on October 22, with the pull-down starting that evening - up to three days before the works' scheduled October 25 end. The move follows the fair's decision to close its main program early on Friday, October 23, at 7pm "in light of potential demonstrations across Paris this weekend and in the interest of safeguarding our visitors."

The eight-work lineup spans Simone Fattal, Carmen Herrera, Marcello Maloberti, Keita Miyazaki, Manfred Pernice, Niki de Saint Phalle and Yinka Shonibare, alongside Alicja Kwade's nearly 15-foot L'Elevation des Mondes (2026). Kwade announced on Instagram that her sculpture would come down Friday "because of the announced riots and people who simply want to resort to violence," adding that "protest is good, but why everything has to be smashed and destroyed is beyond me."

In a later statement to Hyperallergic, Kwade clarified she had wanted the work to stay but, following discussion with the organizers, it was jointly decided on early removal. "I strongly support the legitimate concerns behind these protests, particularly the demands for better education, social justice and fair living conditions," she said - but it is "especially sad to see these important causes overshadowed by violence and destruction."

Galleries confirmed the wider pull-down: Galleria Raffaella Cortese said Maloberti's CIEL (2026) would be dismantled that night, while London's gallery rosenfeld said Miyazaki's A Symbiotic Form (2025) comes down Friday. The information page for the eight Winston Churchill works was removed the same day. An Art Basel spokesperson said the public program's other sites are being assessed "site by site," with the avenue's works to be removed "shortly in coordination with the relevant parties."