We will explore (1) the phenomenon of 'Orientalism' in the global contemporary: how do persistent divisions of East and West affect making, writing, and thinking in an apparently relational, globalizing world?; (2) contemporary feminist approaches to gender and identity politics: how might performative practices work to upset and rigidify hierarchical identity categories?; and, (3) can a meta-critical political and aesthetic approach to desire eliminate hierarchy once and for all?