Inaugural Citizen Arts International Festival Kicks Off This Weekend: What To Know

QUEENS, NY — The Citizen Arts International Festival will bring the gravity-defying performance Suzik to Queens and Brooklyn this weekend, with performances by Korean performing arts company FORCE on September 12 and 13.

Suzik, the Korean word for “verticality,” is a Chinese pole performance that explores connection, trust, and collective movement. Three performers navigate the heights of a vertical pole, relying on one another’s strength, balance, and care as they transform physical risk into moments of trust and possibility.

Rather than portraying upward movement as an individual achievement, Suzik explores the idea of shared momentum. The performers reach, support, and respond to each other while transforming the pole—and each public setting where the work is presented—into a space for relationship and encounter.

The performances are scheduled for Saturday, September 12 at 3 p.m. at Culture Lab LIC and Sunday, September 13 at 3:30 p.m. at The Bushwick Starr.

FORCE explores the intersection of art, technology, and physical expression, using the body as a language to connect audiences with contemporary social and emotional experiences. The company develops and tours performance works while also engaging in festival production, professional training, and international cultural exchange in Korea and abroad.

The Suzik creative team includes Youngho Lee as director and performer, with performers Chanyang Kim and Sunhyuk Kim. Minsang Cho serves as stage manager and Hyunjin Yim as producer. The work is produced in partnership with Culture Lab LIC, The Bushwick Starr, and La MaMa ETC.

The woman-led Citizen Arts International Festival transforms New York City public spaces into stages for free international performance, participatory art, and cultural exchange. Programming across the city’s boroughs includes new circus, dance, music, theater, and participatory performance, with an emphasis on making high-quality cultural experiences accessible to neighborhood communities.

“Public culture is civic infrastructure,” co-directors Meg Araneo, Natalie Rine, and Elena Siyanko, said in a joint statement.

“Citizen Arts International is doubling down on radical accessibility — bringing global performance directly into neighborhoods, free of charge, and using public space to spark dialogue, imagination, and connection across difference.”

Free tickets for Saturday's performance at the Culture Lab LIC can be found here.

Bushwick Starr tickets can be found here.