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The Aerial Photography Series by the Ingenieros Civiles Asociados (ICA) Foundation, presented by the Mexican State, was one of 74 collections incorporated by UNESCO into the Memory of the World, its register of documentary heritage of exceptional universal value, during the 221st session of its Executive Board held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.

With these , the total number of internationally registered collections in the Memory of the World now reaches 570. The inscriptions submitted by 72 countries, including Mexico, are about scientific documentary heritage, women’s contributions to history, the memory of slavery, and key milestones in multilateralism and international cooperation, among others.

“Documentary heritage is an essential yet fragile element of the Memory of the World. This is why UNESCO invests in safeguarding —such as the libraries of Chinguetti in Mauritania or the archives of Amadou Hampâté Bâ in Côte d’Ivoire— shares best practices and maintains this register that records the broadest threads of human history,” stated Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.

The Memory of the World Programme, just like other listings of UNESCO, promotes the accessibility and safeguarding of the heritage, the documentary heritage in this case. This heritage includes documents or collections of significant value, in any physical, audiovisual, or digital format.

The ICA Foundation’s Aerial Photography Series is a valuable resource in scientific photography for multidisciplinary research, with photographs from 1932 to 1994. It includes complementary oblique and vertical series aligned with the territory, as well as photomechanical reductions combined to create large-scale composite images.

The images in the collection captured around 70% of Mexican territory and show the transformation of natural forms and structures in the face of urbanization processes throughout the country. They offer a unique visual narrative about humanity and its impact on a specific territory at a time.

This aerial photography series is also an integral project in itself, serving as a trigger to mobilize our shared humanity in the face of climate change risks, the implications of urban sprawl, and as a call to protect biodiversity, cultural and identity diversity, as well as memory and a sense of belonging.

Eight years after the incorporation of “The archives of negatives, publications and documents of Manuel Álvarez Bravo” in October 2017, Mexico added another element of its documentary heritage to the international registry of the Memory of the World.

Two Mexican registries in the Memory of the World are joint inscriptions: “The work of Fray Bernardino de Sahagún” with Spain and Italy, and “Colonial American Music: a sample of its documentary richness” with Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. Additionally, the “Archive of Santiago Ramón y Cajal and the Spanish School of Neurohistology,” a unique scientific collection safeguarded in the Lorente de Nó Archive in Juriquilla, Querétaro, was postulated by Spain and registered in 2017. Therefore, there are now 15 Mexican collections in the international registry of the Memory of the World.

Documentary heritage is a legacy for humanity, different societies, and even families. However, it is less identified and recognized compared to others.

Moreover, documentary heritage is among the most threatened: it is vulnerable to emergencies such as floods and fires. Its media are particularly sensitive, including varied materials such as leather, paper, cellulose, and, more recently, digital formats. Digital formats and the digitization of physical formats also face technological obsolescence and incompatibility of the devices needed to read or keep them.

UNESCO in Mexico reiterates its call for a collective effort to preserve and digitize the documentary heritage of memory institutions and communities, to prevent its loss—and with it, an immeasurable source of testimony and knowledge. This requires greater financial, technical, and strategic support.