A living, evolving place of memory
Inaugurated on 28 May 2026 by the Institut Ad Memoriam at the Odéon campus of Université Paris Cité, this site is the first permanent place 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 on the lessons to be drawn for the future in the face of health and humanitarian crises.
An inaugural exhibition to rethink a collective experience
Installed on the first floor, the place unveils a first exhibition designed by historian Georges Vigarello and anthropologist Laëtitia Atlani-Duault. The route invites you to revisit the profound transformations caused by the epidemic:
the upheaval of temporalities;
the redefinition of spaces and distances;
the way social bonds were tested and reinvented.
The route also places Covid-19 within a broader history of pandemics and questions how this individual and collective experience can be passed on to future generations.
The Lieu de mémoire will also host thematic exhibitions, currently being installed or prepared, led by exhibition curators with varied profiles.