A strong tree has deep roots
CũCũ Studios began with a family story.
For more than eight years, Njerũ documented conversations with their cũcũ, Kairũ, in Kiembu. Through those conversations, they discovered a depth of memory, language, humour, knowledge, and cultural wisdom that was not being passed on widely enough — even within the family.
Kairũ’s stories carried the wisdom of a lifetime, yet they were becoming inaccessible to younger generations growing up in cities, speaking mostly English and Kiswahili, and disconnected from the indigenous languages of their elders.
CũCũ Studios was born from that realisation: that preserving knowledge is not only about recording the past, but also about making it alive, accessible, and meaningful for the future.
100+ Years of Living Memory
Rooted in the wisdom of elders whose lives carry history, culture, language, and community knowledge.
8+ Years of Conversations
Born from years of recorded family conversations in Kiembu, documenting stories that may otherwise have disappeared.
Four Generations Forward
Created to pass wisdom across generations through formats children, families, and communities can access today.
A Global Village
Built through collaboration with storytellers, artists, archivists, educators, communities, and cultural partners.
Our Story
From one family archive to a global village.
Kairũ is over 100 years old and lives in Embu, on the slopes of Mount Kenya — Kĩrĩnyaga, the mountain of brightness.
Her grandson, Njerũ, began documenting their conversations in Kiembu, their first language. Over time, those conversations revealed a larger truth: many of the stories, songs, lessons, sayings, and memories carried by elders were not being passed down to younger generations in ways they could understand.
For children like Taraji, growing up in Nairobi and speaking English and Kiswahili, the wisdom held in Kiembu was present in the family, but not fully accessible.
Njerũ set out to find ways to preserve those stories, translate them, and reimagine them through current and accessible mediums.
CũCũ Studios grew from that commitment — to help build the village needed to preserve indigenous knowledge in Kenya and around the world.
Mission
To preserve, translate, and share indigenous wisdom.
We document oral knowledge, stories, songs, languages, and cultural memory from elders and communities, then work with creative and cultural partners to translate that wisdom into forms that can travel across generations.
Vision
Prospering indigenous lands, languages, and communities.
We imagine a future where indigenous communities are healthy, rooted, expressive, and connected to their cultures — not as museum pieces, but as living systems of knowledge, creativity, identity, and belonging.
Our Why
Andũ nĩguo ũtonga.
It is our people that are our wealth.
Indigenous knowledge is carried through language, practice, land, story, song, craft, memory, food, medicine, agriculture, spirituality, and community life.
But because of colonialism, globalisation, urbanisation, displacement, and changing education systems, much of this knowledge is disappearing. Languages are being lost. Elders are passing on. Stories are becoming fragmented. Younger generations are often growing up without direct access to the knowledge systems that shaped their families and communities.
CũCũ Studios responds to this loss by creating bridges.
We listen to elders. We document what they know. We honour the language of origin. We translate with care. We collaborate with artists and communities. We create archives that can become books, films, music, animation, learning tools, and shared cultural experiences.
Our work begins with memory, but it is ultimately about continuity.
Our Approach
Listening comes first
CũCũ Studios works with care, patience, and respect. Our process begins with listening and grows into preservation, translation, creative development, and community return.
Listen
We begin with elders, families, and communities. We listen to stories, songs, memories, sayings, and lived experiences in the language and context in which they belong.
Document
We record and organise oral knowledge so that it is not lost. This includes conversations, songs, stories, family histories, cultural practices, and community memory.
Translate
We make knowledge accessible across generations by translating language, meaning, context, and cultural nuance with care.
Archive
We create cultural heritage archives that can preserve source material while supporting future creative, educational, and community use.
Reimagine
We collaborate with creators to turn archives into books, film, music, visual art, animation, learning resources, and interactive experiences.
Share
We help stories travel — not by stripping them from their roots, but by carrying their roots into formats that children, families, and communities can engage with today.
Why This Matters
Identity
When language and story disappear, people lose part of how they understand themselves.
Community
Shared memory strengthens belonging, continuity, and connection across generations.
Knowledge
Indigenous wisdom carries practical knowledge about land, healing, food, ecology, craft, family, and social life.
Imagination
When children see their cultures reflected in stories, songs, animation, and art, they inherit pride as well as memory.
Meet the Founder
Founder & Creative Producer
Njerũ Njoka
My best teacher in life has been my cũcũ.
Njerũ Danson Njoka is a Kenyan-born founder and creative producer of CũCũ Studios. Initially trained as an engineer, Njerũ discovered creativity and storytelling later in life, and has since devoted their work to enabling more African and indigenous storytellers, platforms, and creative ecosystems.
As former CEO and Chief Storyteller for the Pan-African entertainment company KUGALI, Njerũ has led global creative teams and partnerships, supporting stories that travel across cultures while remaining rooted in place, identity, and lived experience.
Selected Credits
Disney+ series Iwájú — Head of Studio
KUGALI INK — Creative Producer
Ready to carry the story forward?
Whether you are a partner, artist, educator, grower, funder, researcher or storyteller, there may be a place for you in the village we are growing
Stories live through sharing.
CũCũ Studios grows through memory, conversation, and collaboration.
If our work resonates with you — whether as a listener, creator, researcher, educator, or cultural steward — we would love to hear from you.
Help grow the village around this work.
Whether you want to collaborate, contribute, or simply reach out, we welcome thoughtful connections.
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