Bringing Heritage Craftsmanship to the World

Rooted in three decades of cultural innovation

Ekin is a contemporary cultural brand built on the legacy of U-Guan Creative Culture (北京优贯创意文化有限公司), whose founding team has been shaping China's cultural and design landscape since 1992. Established in Beijing by leaders of Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts & Design, U-Guan brings more than three decades of research, craftsmanship, and cultural innovation to the foundation of Ekin.

The Gold Kesi technique originated as a program of academic research at Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts & Design — an interdisciplinary exploration of how the aesthetics, philosophies, and craftsmanship of East Asian traditions could be reimagined for contemporary life. Rooted in the broader cultural renaissance and renewed investment in traditional arts, the project sought not simply to preserve heritage, but to give it new life through new materials, design, and making.

The Gold Kesi technique has since been entrusted with some of China's most significant cultural commissions: selected for official state gifts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commissioned for the commemorative stamp marking the Palace Museum's 100th anniversary, and exhibited at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Through Ekin, this practice enters a new chapter — bringing a distinctly contemporary expression of East Asian craftsmanship to collectors, museums, and cultural institutions worldwide.