The Silver Lion recipient Kae Tempest transforms the most ancient art of poetry, in its original dimension as oral storytelling, into burning energy, a necessary and authentic narration that merges the metrics of poetry and the rhythms of rap. A poet, author of plays and narrative texts that have topped the charts and reaped awards, a rapper and performer of readings that attract full houses, Kae Tempest, born in 1985, is expected in Venice for the live exhibition of The Book of Traps & Lessons, in a premiere for Italy.
“Kae Tempest deals bravely with poverty, class and consumerism – writes The Guardian. In a way that not only avoids the pitfalls of sounding trite, but manages to be beautiful too, drawing on ancient mythology and sermonic cadence to tell stories of the everyday”.