28/07/2026
THIS IS WHY KIMIORA STUDIOS IS ON HOLD
Urgent Notice from Leadership
To our whānau, supporters, and wider community—
This is not just a pause. This is the truth.
Kimiora Studios has been a lifelong vision of mine. Not a job—a calling. I committed my life to creative arts, to storytelling, and to building spaces where our people could heal, express, and stand in their truth through Te Reo, performance, and culture.
But while I was building that vision, I was also carrying my community.
In a small city like Invercargill, I opened my doors to the lost, the displaced, the ones with nowhere to go. My home became a place of refuge. I supported rangatahi, whānau in crisis, and those facing domestic violence—while still trying to survive myself, working whatever jobs I had to just to stay afloat.
At the same time, I lost my own children to the system.
And for the next 10 years, my life was not my own—it was spent fighting for them, waiting for their return, holding onto hope while everything else stood still.
By the time that journey ended, I was 42.
And all I wanted… was my career back.
So I returned to my vision. I built Kimiora Studios with structure, purpose, and the intention to create something that would outlast me—a legacy grounded in whakapapa, discipline, creativity, and healing.
But what I was met with was not support.
There was little investment. Little protection.
And in some cases—silence where there should have been backing.
At the same time, I have watched ideas I developed, systems I designed, and visions I shared be taken, repurposed, and rolled out across the South—without acknowledgement, without integrity, and without the depth required to truly hold this kaupapa.
Even at critical stages of my own applications, support was pulled. Communication stopped. I was left to carry something that was never meant to be carried alone.
That is the reality.
I take responsibility as a leader—but I also acknowledge this:
I should have been the one to lead this fully, independently, and without compromise.
Because I was ready. I was capable. And I had already proven that—not just in theory, but in how I showed up for people when it mattered most.
Now, at 45, I am exhausted. Not from lack of vision—but from carrying too much, for too long, without the backing this kaupapa deserved.
So I am choosing to pause.
Not because the dream is over—
but because it deserves better conditions than what it has been given.
Kimiora Studios is a legacy. A Karetai legacy.
And I will not allow it to be built on broken foundations or borrowed leadership.
To those who stood with me in truth—thank you.
To those who didn’t—this is part of that outcome.
This is a reset.
And when it rises again, it will be done right.
— Kimiora Leigh Rangi
Founder, Kimiora Studios
