Pandémie de Covid-19 : ouverture du premier lieu de mémoire de France

From this Wednesday, 16 September, Université Paris Cité opens to the public the very first space in France dedicated to the memory of Covid-19. Located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, this unique venue offers an initial exhibition to look back at this historic crisis, understand its impacts on our lives, and discuss the challenges of tomorrow.

A living and evolving memorial site Inaugurated on 28 May 2026 by the Institut Ad Memoriam at the Odéon headquarters of Université Paris Cité, this site is the first permanent location in France dedicated to the memory of Covid-19.

Conceived on the initiative of anthropologist Laëtitia Atlani-Duault (president of the Institut Ad Memoriam), this scientific and interdisciplinary space offers a place for reflection and dialogue on what the crisis revealed about our societies and the lessons to be learned for the future in the face of health and humanitarian crises.

An inaugural exhibition to rethink a collective experience Located on the first floor, the site unveils a first exhibition designed by historian Georges Vigarello and anthropologist Laëtitia Atlani-Duault.

The exhibition invites you to revisit the profound transformations caused by the epidemic: the upheaval of temporalities; the redefinition of spaces and distances; the way social ties were tested and reinvented.

The exhibition also places Covid-19 within a broader history of pandemics and questions how this individual and collective experience can be transmitted to future generations.

The Memorial Site will also host thematic exhibitions, currently being set up or prepared, led by exhibition curators with varied profiles.