In this paper, we address the question: How can art education reinforce and resist reiterations of Orientalism in multicultural and globalist curriculum in the current moment? (Raza, 2022). We explore how intersectional feminist art education can actively reorient the impacts of Orientalism, resisting and countering the harms of the Orientalist gaze through critical pedagogy, contemporary art practices, and discursive methodologies. Drawing on a conceptual framework layering Homi Bhabha’s hybridity and Third Space (1994), Jacques Derrida’s ethics of hospitality (2000), and Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection (1982), we examine how these ideas intertwine to offer a model for teaching global visual culture that reorients narratives of representation toward plurality, critical engagement, and ethical hospitality. Using case studies from contemporary artists, we provide practical strategies for educators to disrupt stereotypical visual representations and engage students in feminist dialogue. The paper also advocates for the World Café Method (Brown et al., 2005) as a structured conversational pedagogical model that allows students to collectively unpack complex images and histories.

Keywords: Orientalism, non-western art, world café methodology, identity and perception, alternative narratives, representation, representation Global South, Global South, feminist dialogue

How to Cite:

Sharma, M. & Kinsizer, A. K., (2026) “Reorienting Orientalism: Resistance and response in contemporary art and education”, Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education 42(2), 74-94. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jcrae.9917