Roberto Diago's 'Free Men' Confronts Empire at the Cuban Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2026

At the 2026 Venice Biennale, Cuban artist Juan Roberto Diago presents 'Hombres Libres / Free Men' at the Cuban Pavilion, located outside the main Giardini and Arsenale. The installation features scarred heads made from oxidized steel, salvaged timber, plastics, and patched metals, refusing nostalgic depictions of Havana. Diago, grandson of modernist Roberto Juan Diago Querol, grew up in the impoverished Havana barrio Pogolotti and graduated from San Alejandro in 1990 as the Período Especial began. His practice builds on Afro-Cuban traditions from Wifredo Lam and Grupo Antillano, using found materials as social evidence. The sculptures invite touch, bearing visible seams and evidence of labor, contrasting with the polished Biennale. Diago's work critiques the selective amnesia of Venice's colonial history and emphasizes community and mutual reliance. The pavilion, curated with assistance from Artizar, offers a counter-narrative to the Biennale's commercialism, restoring a sense of lived humanity. The piece is described as a material maroonage, assembling fragments from the wreckage of empire.