ArtReview editors highlight off-site pavilions and exhibitions at the 61st Venice Biennale, running from 9 May through 22 November 2026. Featured works include Li Yi-Fan's film *Screen Melancholy* at Palazzo delle Prigioni, which uses motion capture and a free-trial videogame engine to explore digital alienation and the 'enshittosphere,' and Roberto Diago's installation *Free Men* at the Pavilion of Cuban Republic, comprising rusted iron heads, fragmented wooden figures, and text works critiquing political oppression in Cuba.
These off-site presentations matter because they offer counterpoints to the official national pavilions, addressing urgent themes such as technological dehumanization and state repression. Diago's pavilion, produced by commercial gallery Artizar with approval from Cuba's culture ministry, highlights the institutional contradictions facing Cuban cultural production, while Li's work reflects contemporary anxieties about AI and digital identity. Together, they demonstrate how the Biennale remains a platform for politically charged and technologically innovative art beyond its main venues.