PROGRAMS
Cultural Heritage & Arts
Soul Foundation supports the preservation, documentation, study, and responsible stewardship of cultural heritage through research, education, exhibitions, collaboration, and public-benefit initiatives.
The Foundation seeks to help connect important works of art & antiques, historical objects, and cultural knowledge with appropriate collectors, institutions, scholars, museums, and future generations. Its work emphasizes long-term stewardship, careful documentation, trusted relationships, and responsible cultural exchange.
Project H
Project H is a private cultural heritage initiative focused on the preservation, documentation, study, responsible stewardship, and thoughtful transition of a multigenerational collection of Asian art & antiques and historical objects. The project considers appropriate pathways for individual works, including private collectors, institutions, exhibitions, and charitable destinations.
The project evaluates long-term options for individual works through careful research, documentation, professional consultation, and relationship-based engagement with collectors, museums, cultural institutions, scholars, and other appropriate partners.
Current work includes organizing collection records, photographic documentation, reviewing provenance and historical information, comparative research, identifying works that may benefit from further professional study, and developing appropriate presentation materials for selected objects or groups within the collection.
Project H places particular importance on careful timing, trusted relationships before transactions, quality over quantity, discretion, and the protection of significant collection information. Each work is considered individually, with attention to its history, cultural significance, condition, documentation, and the suitability of its future home.
The long-term goal is not simply to transfer objects, but to help important works find appropriate future stewardship while preserving the knowledge, history, and cultural context associated with them.
Research & Historical Archives
Soul Foundation preserves historical research materials, educational resources, and institutional records developed through the former International Art & Antiques Research Association (IAARA). These materials are maintained as part of the Foundation’s broader cultural heritage and Art & Antiques research archive.
Four-in-One Art & Antiques Authentication Method
Yi’s Four-in-One Art & Antiques Authentication Method is an integrated approach to the study and authentication of art, antiques, and cultural relics. It combines four methods: traditional visual examination, color comparison, microscopic observation, and density comparison. The original patent materials describe these four components in detail and identify ceramics, jade, and bronzes among the categories to which the method may be applied.
The method was developed with the goal of combining traditional connoisseurship with practical scientific observation in order to create a more standardized, repeatable, and evidence-based approach to authentication. Its original patent materials emphasize reducing uncertainty caused by excessive reliance on individual experience and judgment.
Prior to the patent filing, Qunfa Ma contributed suggestions and proposed revisions to certain aspects of the method as it was being further developed, and later participated in the preparation and compilation of related educational materials.
The International Art & Antiques Research Association played an active role in the method’s further development, patent preparation and filing, international promotion, educational development, and long-term preservation. The Association also supported the organization of related research materials, publications, teaching resources, and professional exchange.
In 2011, inventor Weiqian Yi formally authorized Qunfa Ma and his legal representatives or organizations to promote Yi’s Four-in-One Method worldwide, including patent applications, translation, publication, distribution, and related activities. The authorization further provided that patent ownership would be shared by Yi and Ma, with Ma’s authorized representatives or organizations participating within the scope of that authorization.
The method, known as Yi’s 4-in-1™ Antique Identification Method, was subsequently granted U.S. Patent No. US 9,086,344 B2 under the patent title “Antique Identification Method.”
Soul Foundation now preserves and organizes related research archives, instructional materials, case documentation, images, and other historical records developed through the Association’s earlier work. These resources form part of the Foundation’s cultural heritage and art & antiques research archive.
Educational Materials & Research Archives
Over many years, the Association developed extensive educational and archival materials related to the Four-in-One Method, including the International Practical Guide to the Four-in-One Cultural Relics Authentication Method, compiled and edited under the leadership of Ma Qunfa.
The materials include instructional texts, photographic records, microscopic images, videos, experimental data, comparative studies, and case documentation developed through years of practical research and teaching.
Soul Foundation is preserving, organizing, and gradually digitizing these historical materials for future research, education, professional exchange, and cultural heritage study.
Selected materials may in the future be revised, digitized, published, or incorporated into educational and research programs while preserving the historical record of their original development.
Additional research, educational activities, and cultural partnerships may be introduced as this work continues to develop.