EKCART ASIA

EKCART ASIA is a futurist art collection management company that acquires carefully curated work from dynamic and trend setting-sectors and markets. Each collection seeks to identify key aesthetic themes and values before they become market trends –  a strategic foresight that  allows us to seek out and support  new and emerging talent at good prices or spot undervalued areas of the art market. EKCART ASIA is not just an opportunity to own art; it is also a platform that supports and promotes artists in new markets and genres. It also brings into the art ecosystem a new community that is interested in art but would normally not consider acquiring 

Trendsetting Leader:

We are a trusted voice with a diverse art portfolio and strong fundamentals. Our collection includes contemporary and classical Asian art, European Old Masters and art from emerging and developed markets, spanning media such as painting, ink, decorative arts and drawing. 

Educational Wisdom:

We see art as a tool for educating audiences about cultural trends and  how to develop an eye for appreciation. At the same time, it can be an alternative asset for portfolio diversification. 

Art Futurist:

We have the foresight to spot collecting and thematic patterns and trends that keep us ahead of the market. Partnerships with art dealers guide us into making the right acquisitions and developing strong strategies. 

Xu Guanyu: Opened Closets, 2019 Series: Temporarily Censored Home; archival pigment print, 101.6cm x 127 cm

Kitty Go, Founder of EKCArt Asia Limited

Before establishing EKCART ASIA in 2021, Kitty Go was an Asia-based freelance lifestyle and art journalist for 25 years (1995-2020). She contributed to publications such as the The Financial Times FT, The Wall Street Journal WSJ, China Daily and South China Morning Post SCMP from Hong Kong, Manila, Tokyo and Taipei. She also wrote for regional newspapers and magazines which were based in Manila, Singapore and Malaysia.

EKCART Asia (an acronym for Emerging Kitty Collects after her two Instagram art accounts) was an idea that came from her experience as a journalist where in the last 10 years of her career, she witnessed the rise of Chinese and South East Asian classical, modern and contemporary art, particularly at auction.

Before establishing EKCART ASIA in 2021, Kitty Go was an Asia-based freelance lifestyle and art journalist for 25 years (1995 to 2020) who wrote for publications such as the The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, China Daily and South China Morning Post. She also wrote for regional newspapers and magazines based in Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Taipei. 

EKCART (an acronym for Emerging Kitty Collects after her two Instagram art accounts) was an idea inspired by Kitty’s experiences as a journalist in the last 10 years of her career, wherein she witnessed the rise of Chinese and Southeast Asian classical, modern and contemporary art, particularly at auction. 

In the early to mid-2000s, there were around 50 art syndicates worldwide but none were able to raise the necessary capital to finance collections, a situation compounded by the art market’s decline at the time. Kitty also recognised that there was not enough knowledge and understanding, as well as hold-time and inventory, to establish art syndicates for alternative assets. 

She looked into its history and found two successful art syndicates. One, in living memory, was the British Rail Pension Fund, which started in 1974 as a hedge on inflation. It was liquidated from 1987 to 1999 with an annual compound return of 11.5 percent. The other, La Peau de l’Ours, a French syndicate that began in 1904 and sold in 1914, made a profit of four times the cost for its investors.

There were also two Chinese contemporary ink collections that caught Kitty’s attention – the Estella and Origo collections. Sotheby’s handled both sales – Estella in April 2008 and Origo in April 2016.

Kitty strongly believes that Chinese collectors, after being exposed to their ancient culture as well as more modern western and Chinese art, will start appreciating contemporary calligraphy, mainly because the art is a foundation of Chinese culture, and ink paintings requires a skill and control that does not exist in western oil and acrylic paintings. 

While the Chinese will realise the depth of their culture and how ancient arts like calligraphy, classical painting and poetry can inspire and be expressed in contemporary art, non-Chinese collectors will always consider calligraphy ink art as something to behold and appreciate, both in value and aesthetics

This prompted her to establish the Juanita Collection, what she defines as an artventure collection that is sustainable, renewable and  dedicated to mid-career contemporary Chinese ink artists. The collection has become iconic of what EKCART ASIA stands for and the store of value in art. Kitty uses this analogy: ‘Like Hollywood, the art business will always be there making the same films but with changing talent and a constant flow of superstars…Contemporary calligraphy and ink are so much a part of Chinese culture. They are equivalent to any type of painting medium in western art…’