Xavier Robles de Medina
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), Walt Disney Productions, 1937, 2023

In the Grimm Brothers’ tale, Snow White declares: “I will go away into the wild wood, and never come home again” as she is forced to venture into the wilderness to escape certain death. The term ‘wild wood’ holds both literal and metaphorical meanings, representing the unknown and standing in direct contrast to the concept of one’s home. The tension between leaving safety behind and never returning home echoes diasporic experiences, and the artist’s personal journey of moving away from his homeland of Suriname. Robles de Medina uses this phrase as the title of the exhibition, inviting viewers to ponder the connection between the protagonist’s statement, the artist’s own journey, and the historical context around the time in which the story was written in 1812. During the early 19th century, the Global South was still grappling with European colonisation, whilst debates surrounding the ethics of slavery intensified in Western Europe. Considering this historical backdrop, the artist questions whose voice the sentence “I will go away into the wild wood, and never come home again” truly represents— those forced to leave home as a result of war, imperialistic conquest, or enslavement, or perhaps the European explorers venturing into uncharted territories in pursuit of conquest?

- Extract from exhibition press release: I WILL GO AWAY INTO THE WILD WOOD, AND NEVER COME HOME AGAIN., Alice Amati, London UK