“Serbian-Style” Glamour: high school graduation balls (1991–2014)

The word glamour is usually associated with luxury and splendour that surrounds people, objects and places. High school graduation balls have always been glamorous events infused with euphoria, passion, glitter and seductiveness. This exhibition seeks to trace the transformation of high school graduation balls in Serbia in the post-socialist period. While these rituals were determined by an economy of scarcity during the 1990s, the transition towards a capitalist economy after 2000 laid a stronger accent on material goods and visual effects. The newly discovered possibilities of consumption augmented individuals’ aesthetic abilities, which in turn led to a further glamorization of high school graduation balls. Dazzled by visual experience and self-presentation, the individualist universe endowed these events with an illusional dimension. The exhibition seeks to decode the visual language of the “Serbian-style” glamour and uncover the meaning of one-day images of luxury, splendour and opulence.