Edinburgh Printmakers will present a new exhibition from printmaking duo Kristina Yarosh and Anna Khodkova known internationally as Etchingroom1 this summer from 18 July to 25 October 2026. For Unexpected Trip, the Berlin based Ukrainian artists tap into their own experiences and imagination to create a new body of work. Unexpected Trip is a collection of stories and encounters. The stories are heartfelt, like the series of dog stories and sculptures taken straight from their own experience and reflections on love and death.
Unexpected Trip sees the artists return to Edinburgh and Edinburgh Art Festival following the success of their commissioned work What a Wonderful Day in a Wonderful World at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in 2024. The artists will present a wonderfully whimsical collection of pieces that show both the hard and exciting moments of life, but always with the undertone of "and this too shall pass" so you should not take anything all too seriously. Known for their unique childlike illustrative style underpinned by social criticism, Etchingroom1 will share works reflecting on everything from explanatory graphs of the religious systems and pagan traditions to the direct alignment of capitalism and materialism with vampires (putting people under the spell of money and power, rather than hypnosis).
Together their works display the hjypocrisy and lack of self-awareness of modern western societies, without being preachy, but rather with a healthy serving of irony. The stories shared in Unexpected Trip are trippy, depicting literal trips, such as the moving boxes reminiscent of their own relocations, the meticulous drawings on the metro scenes displaying the urban night life, and the plan and bus embroideries; and figurative trips, discovering the lives and adventures of vampires.
Speaking ahead of the exhibition, Anna and Kristina of Etchingroom1 said: "What is life if not a string of fun, sad, aggravating, loving, surprising, boring, bewildering, and above all, unexpected events. We always have unexpected trips, even ones we have planned for there are memorable unexpected moments. So we try to put our experiences in this project, sharing stories that are layered with meaning. We are delighted to return to Scotland and develop our work and techniques further for this exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers."
Janet Archer, Chief Executive, Edinburgh Printmakers said: "We have long admired the work of Anna Khodkova & Kristina Yarosh and are delighted to be able to exhibit their wonderful multidisciplinary work. Their socially critical eye and uniquely ironic take on the everyday, highlights that no matter where unexpected trips take us, the human condition is universal. We are humbled to be able to showcase the work of these renowned Ukrainian artists with the support of the British Council, and look forward to sharing their simultaneously poignant and comic perspective with Edinburgh Art Festival audiences and summer and autumn visitors to Edinburgh Printmakers."
Unexpected Trip is supported by the British Council and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop.
Running concurrently in Gallery 2 at Edinburgh Printmakers is Jamie Fitzpatrick: Memorials to Sausage Politics. Jamie Fitzpatrick is an Edinburgh based artist whose work exposes the theatrical absurdities of authority and class structures, inviting viewers to reconsider how cultural symbols of dominance persist and seduce. In Memorials to Sausage Politics the artist will showcase new sculptural works incorporating print and a series of large scale screenprints exploring sculpture as a tool of statecraft.
About etchingroom1
etchingroom1 is an artistic group founded in 2016 by two artists, Kristina Yarosh and Anna Khodkova in Kyiv, Ukraine. The group's practice is rooted in visual art and spans multiple media. Their work primarily includes works on paper, porcelain, mosaic, installations, and more. The artists often combine several media within one project to create a stronger and deeper visual expression. etchingroom1 have exhibited their work internationally, most recently; Safety Instructions, Annenberg Centre, Philadelphia, USA; Bus Stop, Dymchuk Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine; It was crowded yesterday, ArtEast Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Starting point, Ukrainian Culture Centre, Paris, France. etchingroom1 is currently based in Berlin.
