Kuchumaa Passage
Creating a gateway to a sacred mountain
The Kuchumaa project inspired me to initiate Pomegranate Center’s Gathering Places program. I marveled at how much was accomplished in a very short time, the great satisfaction and pride, increased trust in individual and team abilities, the beauty of the end product, an overarching calm amidst a very turbulent and improvisational process, a sort of happy madness.
- Milenko Matanovic
Kuchumaa Passage lies on the edge of an oak grove at the base of Mount Kuchumaa in Tecate, Mexico. This outdoor chapel consists of a stone circle edged by two walls of local brick and stone—forming a cupping shape to encourage listening to the mountain, which is a place of spiritual importance to local people. The project—an experiment in participatory art-making—was created during a nine-day workshop led by James Hubbell and Milenko Matanovic with twelve participants from the U.S., and a group of Mexican masons. Kuchumaa Passage received the American Institute of Architect’s award for Sacred Places in 1993.
- Year:
- 1993
- Location:
- Kuchumma Passage Rancho La Puerta, Tecate, Mexico
- Lead Artists:
- James Hubbell and Milenko Matanovic
