A dome formed of steel pieces shaped like beaver pelts and organized in a swarm around an open central point is installed in René-Lévesque Park. Twelve masts anchored in the ground surround or support this structure, which is erected on a circle of slabs. On the slabs, maps of waterways used for trade in New France are represented in bas-relief.

The work’s motifs are inspired by history: the animal pelts in the hut evoke the fur trade, whereas the design on the slabs depicts the watercourses used for their transport.

Passing Song is inseparable from the experience that it provokes. It invites the public to take refuge under the dome, which amplifies the sound of the wind passing through it. Confronted with this enhanced sensorial reality, viewers paradoxically enter into contact with culture and history. In fact, “Passing Song” is a Cherokee expression that refers to the wind heard when a spirit leaves a person’s body to take flight in nature. The artwork refers to the invisible trace of this evanescent memory.

Passing Song was first displayed at the first Salon international de la sculpture extérieure, an event organized by the Centre des arts contemporains du Québec à Montréal in 1992 for the 350th anniversary of the foundation of Montréal. With the theme “Aux quatre vents” (To the Four Winds), this exhibition of monumental and environmental sculptures brought together 12 artworks, created specially for the occasion, on the promenade of the Old Port of Montréal. At the end of the event, Widgery’s artwork was installed at its permanent site, in René-Lévesque Park in Lachine.