Betsy Damon is a feminist, performance artist, and environmental activist. 'Keepers of the Waters' is a community-based water activism initiative, which was founded and directed by Damon in 1991, and traveled to China in 1995 to 1996. The artist invited local and international artists to create public performances and installation art to raise awareness of source water protection, particularly the Funan and Lhasa rivers.

The core of this research collection is documentation of the two iterations of 'Keepers of the Waters' that took place in Chengdu, Sichuan (1995), and Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region (1996). Comprised of slides, audio-visual recordings, newspaper clippings, and interviews, this collection is related to performance art, women artists, exhibition histories, and the development of regional contemporary art in China.

The material in this archive connects with Petra Poelzl’s research on performance art in Sichuan, sponsored by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Greater China Research Grant, and includes Poelzl’s interview with Betsy Damon and Dai Guangyu in spring 2017.