Wearing Buttons is Not Enough

The day after the French elections, father and daughter team Johan Kugelberg and Sofia Leilani Kugelberg are pleased to announce Wearing Buttons Is Not Enough, an exhibition of original protest buttons from the 1960s

The collection comes from the archive of Garrick Beck, co-founder of the Rainbow Gathering and life-long activist. As the son of Living Theatre founders Julian Beck and Judith Malina, Garrick Beck was at the epicenter of the civil rights movement, anti-nuclear activism, anti-Vietnam war activism and what was to become the hippie movement. During those heady days, he’d keep all the slogan buttons he was given at rallies, events, demonstrations and sit-ins.

Almost all of these buttons are relevant nowadays, 50-60 years later. Before social media, before Pinterest and Instagram, these slogans and graphics communicated beliefs person-to-person in Meatspace.

For this exhibition, Sofia Leilani Kugelberg has designed a pocket t-shirt that comes complete with an original vintage button. There is also a limited edition zine with a 9- button pack selected by Sarah. Pins manufactured by Pintrill are also available. The proceeds go towards the funding of the ongoing archiving of the history of the Rainbow Gathering.

Garrick Beck: “Wearing these, you got a lot of reaction. People reacted to buttons in those times. In the 1960s, if you wore a button, it was a statement, and people saw it. You wore it on the subway, or you wore it in the street, or in a store. People read what you had to say. It was a whole powerful type of expression.” Sofia Leilani Kugelberg: “As a teenager in 2017, I think these buttons are amazing and inspirational. It makes you want to get involved, get active, reacting and wanting to make change!”