What a great idea! In early 2020, Swiss artist Nathalie Rebholz was invited by the Geneva gallery Le Labo to work on a project called Waiting Room. She wanted to reflect on the notion of the waiting room, on a way of occupying the art space during the moments between exhibitions.But this was without counting on the confinement, which reshuffled the cards of the project.

In response to the pandemic's chaotic situation, the Geneva-based artist and specialist in visual and digital arts came up with the idea of a new online platform, with a pop, acidic look, colors that change as you go along and move as you listen, a platform that brings together original sound works offering a new form of sound mediation. And the name chosen says it all: Joyfully Waiting ! A room full of sounds and surprises, preferably in bazaar form, an unidentified musical object well worth the detour.

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Nathalie Rebholz has become a curator, inviting other artists from different countries to create a variety of sound capsules: carte blanche! These miniatures range from text readings and guided mediation sessions to tracks that are at times pungent, ironic, hypnotic and soaring, some even featuring... a hatha yoga session! These singular contributions, with their intriguing titles - "Fuck the world i'm staying in my bed drinking hot chocolate with ice" - are posted every week, making Joyfully Waiting an astonishing digital music box. 

Among the latest deliveries is "Neither ou Nor Either", an ironic piece by Italian composer Elena Radice, for the Real Madrid collective, a haunting, heady sound loop inspired by... the Skype ringtone, but transcribed and sung by a five-voice digital choir. 

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Another discovery was made by the young Chinese artist Galaxia Wang, confined to Australia for the year 2020, where he discovered the astonishing lyrebird, capable, even better than the parrot, of imitating human noises and voices... An animal she paraphrases in a series of ten musical miniatures...

A place for musical escapism and sonic detours, Joyfully Waiting is a showcase for an abundant and exciting artistic life, despite the restrictions. To be enjoyed without moderation, preferably with headphones in your ears!

Suzanne Gervais