[Many thanks to Odette Casamayor for sharing information on Roberto Diago in her fascinating notes on La Biennale di Venezia.] The Pavilion of the Republic of Cuba at the 61st Biennale di Venezia (May 9 to November 22, 2026) presents the project “Hombres libres / Free Men” by artist Roberto Diago. Curated by Nelson Ramírez de Arellano Conde, with Daneisy García Roque as commissioner, the exhibition is located at Il Giardino Bianco – Art Space, at 1814 Giuseppe Garibaldi Street. [Read more on this exhibition at Finestre sull’arte.]
Professor Casamayor shares, “The title: Hombres Libres. Free Men. A declaration in two words. We are the maroons — forever finding home, reclaiming freedom from within, unseen and invincible. Diago’s work carries the weight of memory and the dignity of resistance with extraordinary force and tenderness. A powerful reminder that freedom is never granted. It is claimed, embodied, and lived.”
Commissioner: Daneisy García Roque;
Curator: Nelson Ramirez de Arellano Conde;
Exhibitor: Juan Roberto Diago Durruthy
Venue: Il Giardino Bianco – Art Space, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, Castello 181
Description (from Finestre sull’arte]: [. . .] Within this poetics, freedom does not coincide with the erasure of suffering or the removal of traumatic experiences. On the contrary, the artist proposes to expose such marks as evidence of a lived history. Scars thus become visible and declared elements, assimilated as symbols of resistance and survival. In this perspective, the surface of the works, which recalls the epidermis of the human body, suggests an interpretation of black skin as a space in which memory, violence and resilience are deposited.
The concept of the scar plays a central role in the construction of the identity represented in the installation. The mark engraved on the material is not interpreted as a mere trace of pain, but as a testimony of the experience gone through. The body, although marked, maintains a condition of autonomy and sovereignty. From this perspective derives a redefinition of the idea of “free man,” which goes beyond the traditional legal dimension of an individual without constraints. In Diago’s project, freedom is identified with the ability to recognize one’s historical traces and to preserve memory in the face of narratives that have attempted its erasure or distortion. [. . .]
Roberto Diago (Juan Roberto Diago Durruthy), born in Havana in 1971 lives and works in the Cuban capital. A painter, sculptor and installation artist, he trained at the San Alejandro National Academy of Fine Arts. He currently serves as a consulting professor at the University of the Arts (ISA) and is a member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC).
For more information, see https://www.finestresullarte.info/en/exhibitions/at-the-venice-biennale-the-cuba-pavilion-presents-hombres-libres-by-roberto-diago and https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2026/cuba
[See above: 1) Roberto Diago, Hombres Libres / Free men (2025; installation, mixed materials, dimensions variable) ©Estudio Diago. 2) The artist. Courtesy of Estudio Diago.]
[Many thanks to Odette Casamayor for sharing information on Roberto Diago in her fascinating notes on La Biennale di Venezia.] The Pavilion of the Republic of Cuba at the 61st Biennale di Venezia (May 9 to November 22, 2026) presents the project “Hombres libres / Free Men” by artist Roberto Diago. Curated by Nelson Ramírez de Arellano Conde, with Daneisy García Roque as commissioner, the exhibition is located
