Karamu Meets Coffee

Keelin Bell's murals Karamu Meets Coffee and Angels Over Pōneke reflect a deep commitment to whakapapa, acknowledging the many layers of history, connection, and future potential embedded in place. In Karamu Meets Coffee, the alleyway between Enjoy and Mother of Coffee becomes a living canvas where the whakapapa of the whenua is brought forward as an active thread binding past to present. The mural weaves together narratives of Te Aro Pā, once a thriving site of agriculture and exchange, with stories from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, foregrounding the indigenous knowledge systems of both cultures. The act of sharing kai and mātauranga across oceans becomes a form of hakari, a feast of relationship and reciprocity.

In another mural, Angels Over Pōneke, the angel icon of Mother of Coffee hovers over the city like kaitiaki, three atua-like figures floating above the familiar landscape of Te Whanganui-a-Tara. The view orients itself east toward Tangi Te Keo (Mt Victoria), reminding us that the whenua continues to speak. Coffee shrubs frame the skyline, anchoring the global to the local, and the present to ancestral lineages.

Together, these works by Keelin are a form of visual whakawhanaungatanga, bringing people together through shared stories, honouring the spiritual and cultural resonances between Māori and Ethiopian worldviews. They call to sustain a relational future built on care, memory, and mutual respect. In the heart of the city, Bell invites us to pause, listen, and remember that the whenua holds all our stories.