Kunuku mapping
Creative storytelling about places that matter to you
Kunuku [papiamentu]: a field, landscape, or cultivated garden;
from the Taíno word conuco, which has a similar meaning.
Kunuku [Papiamentu]: a field, landscape, or cultivated garden; from the Taíno word conuco, which has a similar meaning.
our story
As members of immigrant families with roots planted across different regions of the world such as Vietnam, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and the United States, the connection between place and story has fascinated us since we were young.
At Kunuku Mapping, we are passionate about imagining new and creative ways to document and visualize stories about places that matter to us.
We create beautiful interactive and cartographic maps that inspire and educate; partner with communities, organizations, or families to map their own place-based stories; and consult on documenting personal or cultural heritage, or organizing heritage events.
We can work with a wide range of digital storytelling tools to help you tell stories about places, and are directly involved in building a free and open-source geostorytelling tool called Terrastories.
We’d love to help you bring your stories to life!
WHAT WE DO
Storytelling with INTERACTIVE maps
WEB APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT
Data-driven web maps and dashboards
Mapping place-based oral histories
Photography and video editing
Print map cartography and design
Offline and online spatial data collection
Community & participatory mapping methodologies
We are also skilled in:
Compiling physical and digital archives
Heritage events organizing
Web design and development
App development
Technology stack
We are “tech-agnostic” in our approach and can work with a variety of digital tools depending on your needs, but we particularly love working with these.
PORTFOLIO
Terrastories: Matawai Konde
Terrastories built for the Matawai community in Suriname (with the Amazon Conservation Team and Stichting Matawai)
MAPPING ECOSYSTEM RIGHTS
An interactive mapping app, database, and API to help identify where rights of nature legislation is most likely to pass (with Bioneers and the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights)
Echoes of Little Saigon
Collecting and Preserving the Cultural History of the Vietnamese Community in Arlington, Virginia (with Virginia Tech and other partners)
Native Land Digital
Native Land is an app to help map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages
Sarayaku
In Defense of Territory (with the Amazon Conservation Team and CEJIL)
The Guiana Shield
One of the Last Wild Places on Earth (with the Amazon Conservation Team)
Technology in Solidarity with Indigenous Communities
An impact storytelling map made for Digital Democracy
Vietfest (2014 - present)
An Annual Vietnamese Heritage Festival Organized at Tyson's Corner in Northern Virginia (with NOVAL-DC)
Keeng Kumu
The Life and Travels of an Indigenous Mapping Expert in the Northeast Amazon (with the Amazon Conservation Team)
Amazon Gold Rush
Gold Mining in Suriname (with the Amazon Conservation Team)
Lands of Freedom
The Oral History and Cultural Heritage of the Matawai Maroons in Suriname (with the Amazon Conservation Team, UNESCO, and the National Archives of Suriname)
Earth Defenders Toolkit
A Collaborative Space for Earth Defenders and Their Allies (with Digital Democracy and others)
Sinangoe
Our Territory is our Life (with Digital Democracy, Amazon Frontlines and Alianza Ceibo)
John Smith's 1612 map
Interactive map of Indigenous place names from John Smith's 1612 map of the Mid-Atlantic region
Testimonial
Our Team
RUDO KEMPER
Co-founder | Creative Director
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudo-kemper
Github: https://github.com/rudokemper
Photography portfolio: rudokemper.com
LIZ NGUYEN
Co-founder | Events & Communications Director
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-thaihuong-nguyen-b4895743/
Languages spoken: English, Vietnamese, Dutch, and Spanish.