Owner, Luella Raj, has an eye for sourcing the best emerging artists as well as nurturing long standing relationships with New Zealand’s leading makers. Since 2001 she has worked alongside artists building and fostering a close knit, open creative community.

Luella holds a strong belief in the importance of art in the community. While not a maker herself, she is passionate about the process of creating and is dedicated to supporting artists, following and encouraging their practice and sharing with buyers what goes into the creation of each original work.

A large part of Sonja's days are spent behind the scenes processing the steady flow of beautiful artworks from all over Aotearoa. Working in the office and within our photography studio taking images for our website and social media, Sonja ensures we have an abundant, supply of beautiful photography to keep our channels updated.

Sonja's creative background is in ceramics. She completed three years at Otago Polytechnic Ceramic School in the early 90's. For many years Sonja was one of our favourite artists creating sculptural and domestic ceramic artworks. However with the growth of the business Sonja has put down the ceramics tools and now dedicates her time to others artists in our Kina library.

Hannah manages the role of content creation and email/social media marketing. This covers everything from inspiring clients with the superb array of New Zealand art and design on our social media channels, to creating the email campaigns and artist stories that are released weekly. She keeps you informed about the exciting new developments that happen within the store!

Hannah has a bachelor of fashion design, and is passionate about ethical production, and finds it hard to part with textiles that offer potential and creative possibilities (much to her husbands dismay!) She is also an avid gardener and nature lover, carving out time wherever possible to explore Taranaki's boundless pathways and surroundings.

Judy grew up in a creative family and was encouraged to never be idle, but creative and productive. Very skilled in the fashion design industry fuelled her desires for creativity. Many years in the optics industry taught Judy technical hands on skills and the attention to detail that is required for working on the shop floor at Kina with shop merchandising and excellent customer service.

Judy is very much a visual person, with eyes always open you could say…taking it all in. She enjoys engaging with our many visitors through the doors and has many loyal regulars popping in to say hi.

Julianne has worked in the Design Store, Gallery and Museum world since 1989 when she started with the New Zealand Crafts Council in Wellington. A long standing member of the Kina family, Julianne is a familiar face to many of our loyal clients. You will often find her working on our window display and store shelves, making sure to celebrate the artworks on offer. Julianne’s excellence in customer service always shines on the days you find her at Kina.

Her creative interests lie in textiles and photography. She has had a few exhibitions in the Kina gallery space over the years and is currently collating a body of work to exhibit in the not too distant future.