Venice Biennale 2026
ROBERTO DIAGO
HOMBRES LIBRES
May, 9 – November, 22. 2026
May, 9 – November, 22. 2026
In 2026, the Venice Biennale will once again become the nerve center of the international contemporary art scene. Since its creation in 1895, the Biennale has established itself as the most influential and prestigious event on the artistic calendar, a space where institutions, galleries, collectors, critics, and artists from around the world converge. To be present in this setting means to enter into direct dialogue with the history of recent art and with the most urgent issues of the present, in a context where each national pavilion becomes a cultural embassy of its country.
In the upcoming edition, Cuba will be represented by Roberto Diago (Havana, 1971), one of the most prominent artists of his generation, whose career has brought to the forefront historical memory, Afro-descendant identity, and the social tensions of the contemporary world. The project he will present in Venice, entitled Hombres libres (2025), marks a decisive step in his career and stands as recognition of the strength of an artistic language that has transcended borders and contexts. For any creator, participating in the Biennale is a milestone, but doing so as the representative of their country carries an even greater responsibility: giving voice to an entire cultural tradition and projecting it onto a global stage.
The significance of this event does not lie solely in the international visibility it provides, but also in the way it situates an artist’s work in dialogue with the most powerful discourses of contemporary art. The Biennale is not just an exhibition: it is a space of legitimation, a laboratory of trends, and a meeting ground for cultural debate on a global scale.
In this context, the involvement of a private gallery such as Artizar in the production and organization of the pavilion acquires an added value. For us, accompanying Roberto Diago in this project is a testament to our commitment to contemporary creation, to the internationalization of Cuban art, and to supporting artists whose work has the power to generate impact both within and beyond their place of origin. To take an active role in a project of this magnitude involves not only organizational and logistical effort, but also an institutional commitment to art as a tool of memory, resistance, and dialogue.
The project Hombres libres will be produced by Galería Artizar in collaboration with the Estudio Roberto Diago, and will mark a fundamental chapter both in the trajectory of the artist and in the recent history of our work as a gallery. For Artizar, being present at the Venice Biennale means reaffirming our vocation to act as a bridge between local contexts and global circuits, and strengthening the idea that the art we promote from our spaces can and should occupy a central place on the international stage.
The Venice Biennale is, ultimately, much more than an artistic event. It is a space of cultural representation and political encounter, a stage where the main lines of contemporary art are drawn, and where each country projects its identity through its artists. That Cuba will be represented by Roberto Diago in 2026, with the support of Galería Artizar, is a source of pride and also a reminder of the role that art can play in constructing collective narratives, reclaiming memory, and defending freedom.
PAVILION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA
At the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
FREE MEN (Hombres Libres)
Exhibitor: Roberto Diago
Commissioner: Daneisy García Roque
Curator: Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde
Location:
Il Giardino Bianco – Art Space
Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 1814. Venice
From May 9 to November 22, 2026
In collaboration with and produced by: Galería Artizar
Hombres Libres (Free Men) is the project by artist Roberto Diago for the Pavilion of Cuban Republic at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde and the commissioner of Daneisy García Roque. The exhibition, open from May 9 to November 22, is located at Il Giardino Bianco – Art Space, at Via Garibaldi 1814, between the Giardini and the Arsenale.
Roberto Diago’s work stands as a perpetual reminder that freedom is not given, it is conquered; it is not a passive state, but a continuous practice—a constant tensión that demands keeping memory sharp and dignity intact.
The installation ‘Hombres Libres/Free Men’ consists of a group of sculptures (heads) of various dimensions that advance toward the viewer, receiving and confronting them. They display scars that rise in relief from oxidized metals, wood, plastics, and salvaged materials —a tactile memory that refuses to be flattened by oblivion. In this poetics, freedom does not imply hiding a history of pain under the makeup of assimilation, but rather exhibiting it like a medal. This reclamation begins in the very epidermis of the piece, confronting us with black skin not as a smooth, docile surface, but as a geographical map of trauma and resistance. The keloid thus becomes an assertion of identity: the irrefutable proof of having survived punishment and that the flesh, though marked, remains sovereign. Through this lens, the concept of a “free man” transcends the legal definition of one unshackled; for the artist, a free person is one with the courage to acknowledge their marks, to dignify their precarity, and to hold their gaze before a history that attempted to erase them. It does not represent victims, but rather constructs a genealogy of survivors who have crowned themselves.
Juan Roberto Diago Durruthy
Born in Havana, Cuba, 1971. Lives and works in Havana, Cuba. Painter, Sculptor, and Installation Artist, is a graduate of the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts. He currently serves as a Consulting Professor at the University of Arts (ISA) and is a member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Utilizing found materials, his art explores a permanent theme: the essence of the enslaved within the contemporary Black man. His work addresses the historical conflict of the African diaspora, reflecting a spirit of resistance and the daily struggle for survival. By interlacing these materials piece by piece, he reveals the wounds of the past, while imbuing the work with the strength to endure.
Roberto Diago has established a formidable international trajectory spanning over three decades, with a presence in prestigious art circuits across Europe, Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean. His solo career includes landmark exhibitions at the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery at Harvard University, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, and Casa América in Madrid. A consistent figure in major global biennials, Diago has participated in the 47th and 57th International Art Exhibitions of La Biennale di Venezia, the Havana Biennial, and the Dakar Biennale (2022), alongside historic showcases such as “Artes de Cuba” at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. His work is held in prominent public and private collections worldwide, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the CIFO and Pizzuti Collections in the U.S., the Museum of Black Civilizations in Senegal, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba, and the Reina Sofia Museum in Spain. His pieces have been exhibited in hundreds of solo and group shows across some 25 countries. His work is held in approximately 20 major national and international collections.