Introduction Heritage of the Air 2019: Modernism, machines. migration, memories

To mark the centenary of the civil aviation industry in Australia, this special issue of Historic Environment features papers that reflect on aviation culture and heritage through the memories held by people and places in Australia and beyond. Aviation technology captured human imagination in the twentieth century and transformed the way that we see, connect, and experience the world. Today, with the far-reaching impacts on the aviation industry of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have all felt the effects of this pause on travel, and on our ability to traverse vast distances safely and quickly. In this issue, we contemplate the memories and musings produced in a time before social distancing and recall when 200 delegates, from all over Australia and around the globe, gathered for the Australia ICOMOS ‘Heritage of the Air’ conference in Canberra, from 14-17 November 2019 (Figure 2). This collaborative and collegial event was led by the Heritage of the Air Australian Research Council Linkage Project (LP160101232) team, Airservices Australia and the University of Canberra, in partnership with Australia ICOMOS, ICOMOS ISC 20C, and Canberra Modern.