Orientalism as defined by scholar Edward Said is a "created body of theory and practice" in which images of the East, also refered to as the Orient, are presented through a Western lens for the consumption and pleasure of the West, also refered to as the Occident.
Said defines the concept of orientalism through the 'us versus them' construct in his 1978 book titled Orientalism.
Over time as intereactions between the east and west increased the term orientalism evolved from just an academic discipline to become an ideology rooted in harmful and inaccurate depictions of the east as constructed by the west. Now, many people commonly refer to the term to describe the othering of the east and other non-white cultures that dominate the global east.
As a result of orientalism, many eastern cultures are forced to construct their identities and cultures based on the west's perception of them. This makes it hard for people to truly embrace and claim their culture out of the constraits of orientalism. In an effort to reclaim culture here are some cultural artifacts as understood by the people of those cultures.