The series Water Fetching: From Here to There, Plans for Water Fetching 1999- is a continuous performance art works by Ren Qian. The series will take the whole life of the artist to finish, upon whose death the proceeding artists can carry on. The series includes video documentaries, pictures and samples of water fetching home and abroad every year, which will be exhibited in museums.
The artist travelled around the world in the last twenty years, sampling from waters such as China’s Yangtze River jiudukou water area, Jialing River water area, feicui lake, London Thames, Tibet Namuco lake, Vietnam Xialong Bay, Mekong River water area, Yunnan Dali Erhai, Hong Kong Victoria Harbor, Macao fool’s Wharf, Taiwan Sun Moon Lake, Chongqing Ciqikou Jialing River water area, Thailand Bangkok ampawa water market, Yunnan Fuxian Lake, Kunming Dianchi Lake, Italy Venice St. Mark’s Square, Beijing Summer Palace, Shandong Jinan Yellow River Estuary, Jinan Baotu Spring, Qinghai Lake, Xining Huangshui River, Lhasa Yarlung Zangbo River, Tibet yangzhuoyongcuo, Lijiang, Yunnan, southern Mediterranean of Sicily, Italy, Rhine River in Dusseldorf, capital of North Wales, France, Seine River in Paris, Sofia National Park Lake, capital of Bulgaria, Lhasa River in Tibet, Manhattan Wharf in New York, United States, Phnom Penh Mekong River, Kingdom of Cambodia, Fenghuang ancient town in Hunan, China, San Francisco Wharf in New York, China, Changshou Lake in Chongqing, China, New Jersey waterfall in New York, Huangguoshu waterfall in Guizhou, China, Longli prairie Lake in Guizhou, China, jiangbeizui Grand Theater in Chongqing, China, and fengfengfengling reservoir in Jinfo Mountain in Chongqing, China. The artist tries to focus on living conditions of human being from perspectives of art, history, economy, culture, nature and religion.
《取水：从这儿到那儿，为取水所作的计划1999-》系列是任前迄今为止于1999年至2021年间创作的一系列持续行为艺术作品。此系列作品设定以艺术家自己的一生来完成，直至生命的终止。也可交由后续的艺术家来继续实施。这一系列作品包括艺术家每年在中国和世界各地不同水域的取水水样的行为旅行视频记录、图片、以及采的水样装置构成。最后在美术馆空间展出。
作者通过这二十多年来在世界各地旅行，水域取水样的持续行为（中国长江九渡口水域，嘉陵江水域翡翠湖，伦敦泰晤士河，西藏纳木错湖，越南下龙海湾，湄公河水域，云南大理洱海，香港维多利亚港湾，澳门愚人码头、台湾日月潭，重庆磁器口嘉陵江水域，泰国曼谷安葩洼水上市场，云南抚仙湖、昆明滇池，意大利威尼斯圣马可广场，北京颐和园，山东济南黄河口，济南趵突泉，青海省青海湖，西宁湟水河，西藏拉萨雅鲁藏布江，西藏羊卓雍错，云南丽江，意大利西西里岛南地中海，德国北威州府杜塞尔多夫市莱茵河，法国巴黎塞纳河，保加利亚首都索非亚国家公园湖，西藏拉萨河，美国纽约曼哈顿码头，柬埔寨王国金边湄公河，中国湖南凤凰古镇，美国纽约旧金山码头，中国重庆长寿湖，美国纽约新泽西瀑布，中国贵州黄果树瀑布，中国贵州龙里大草原湖，中国重庆江北嘴大剧院，中国重庆金佛山风吹岭水库）艺术家试图从艺术，历史，政治，经济，文化，自然，宗教等角度来关注人类的生存状况。
