PASSING THROUGH is a story of cultural collision and resolution manifested through artistic expression. An exhibition created around the artist Montserrat Wassam's family legacy, becomes a catalyst for personal and historic transformation for the former inhabitants of an abandoned Japanese town.

For Montserrat, the creative life is tainted by secrecy, as a lineage of artists, writers, dancers and musicians are haunted by unspoken tales of their ancestry. Harnessing her own creative expression in an awe-inspiring installation of family artifacts circa 1890's - 1920's, Montserrat attempts to break the cycle of harboring familial guilt. Through her work, the artist describes her grandmother's insanity, bringing out in the open this shameful psychological inheritance and ridding herself of its burden.

PASSING THROUGH incorporates verite footage with dramatic imagery of the exhibition within the deserted and picturesque town of Walnut Grove, near the Sacramento Delta. The audience travels through the installation with a slow and ephemeral cinematic style, accented with rich colors and textures, as Montserrat guides us along with her personal narration.

The tapestry of the installation tells of the artists Jewish heritage, which leads to a photograph in the exhibit, found under the steps of this old Japanese schoolhouse and place of worship. As word of the installation spreads throughout the region, this photograph serves to inspire elders to revisit and share their experience, many sent to the interment camps never to return. The candid interviews with internment camp survivors provide context for the town's history.

In her eighties, Grace Morimoto vividly recalls the scene of the photograph, the funeral of her aunt, who died of tuberculosis at age 13 in August of 1929. So moved by the installation, Grace researches and finds the death certificate of Tomiko Nikaido, offering the official record to Montserrat to be incorporated into the exhibition.

PASSING THROUGH is a testament to the power of creative expression, as an artistic installation hosts the unlikely meeting place for ghosts of Japanese farm and levee workers and those of the artist's Jewish family. As seen multi-culturally and across the generations, the sharing of personal histories simultaneously preserves the past and contributes to the continuum of the human experience.