Mona Cara, *The Mountain Man*, 2024, detail
The Music of Time
Exhibition by Mona Cara and Vanessa Notley.
November 5 through December 11, 2026
Opening: November 19, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
Carcassonne site
Works on loan from FRAC Occitanie Montpellier.
Organized as part of the AAP PEI – TIPEX project.
"The Music of Time" refers to the rhythm of weaving and, more broadly, to the textile arts, which are represented in this exhibition by works from the FRAC collection by two artists, Mona Cara and Vanessa Notley.
Weaving and embroidery are ancient arts that bridge craftsmanship, eras, and techniques. These practices hold a special place in art history, though they were long considered minor forms of artistic expression, associated with women and even with domestic work. It was not until the 20th century, through the experiments and works of numerous artists, that textile art came to be recognized on par with other mediums, prompting a reevaluation of the distinction between art and craft.
Mona Cara’s *L’Homme-Montagne* is a large, triangular jacquard tapestry, a metaphor for the human body. The work references the “snakes and ladders” motif, popular in the Middle East, which symbolizes the spiritual path to reaching heaven. Reinterpreted here, the slopes are covered with ladders from an abandoned amusement park—a contemporary version of a chaotic world to be overcome.
Vanessa Nottelet’s collection of horse hats, meanwhile, stems from a desire to create a repertoire of educational or moral rhymes—slightly outdated sayings heard within her family and often intended for young girls. And her horse, which wore ear covers in the summer, became the sculpture—the carrier, mold, and model—for these hats embroidered with sayings, like a kind of restraint on freedom. Language is at the heart of Vanessa Notley’s work, with its wordplay, sounds, translations, and misinterpretations, often infused with a sharp sense of humor.
In these two works, the threads of time intertwine, linking movements and sounds to create poetic and joyful metaphors for our era, despite all the difficulties we have faced.
