The Covid-19 Pandemic Memorial Site opens to the public

Covid-19, Research

Starting Wednesday 16 September, the Covid-19 Pandemic Memorial Site will welcome visitors every Wednesday, from 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m., at Université Paris Cité’s Odéon headquarters, located at 12 rue de l’École de médecine. Admission is free and no registration is required.

© Université Paris Cité / Jean-Marie Dufour

A living and evolving memorial site

Inaugurated on the 28th of May 2026 at Université Paris Cité’s Odéon headquarters, the Covid-19 Pandemic Memorial Site, led by Institut Ad Memoriam, is the first permanent site in France dedicated to commemorating and reflecting on this major crisis.

Established at the initiative of Laëtitia Atlani-Duault, President of Institut Ad Memoriam, the Memorial Site was conceived as a scientific, civic and interdisciplinary space. Beyond its commemorative purpose, it aims to provide a forum for reflection and dialogue on what the pandemic revealed about our societies and the lessons to be learned in the face of future public health and humanitarian crises.

Located on the first floor of Université Paris Cité’s Odéon headquarters, the Memorial Site will welcome visitors every Wednesday from 16 September, as well as during debates, conferences and other events organised by Institut Ad Memoriam. Since 2020, the Institute has held these events at various venues; they will now take place at its new home on rue de l’École de médecine. The programme of scientific events will be announced shortly.

Revisiting an experience that profoundly altered our frame of reference

Visitors will be able to discover the site’s inaugural exhibition, conceived by historian Georges Vigarello and anthropologist Laëtitia Atlani-Duault. It invites them to reflect on the legacy of the pandemic and the profound changes it brought about: the disruption to our sense of time, the redefinition of spaces and distances, and the ways in which social connections were tested and reinvented.

The exhibition also places Covid-19 within the broader history of pandemics and explores how this individual and collective experience can be passed on to future generations.

The Memorial Site will also host thematic exhibitions that are currently being developed or prepared by curators from a range of backgrounds.

Learn more about the project and the work of Institut Ad Memoriam.

Practical information

When
Every Wednesday, from 2 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
From 16 September

Where
Covid-19 Pandemic Memorial Site – Institut Ad Memoriam
Université Paris Cité – Odéon headquarters
12 rue de l’École de médecine, Paris 6th arrondissement

Admission
Free admission, no registration required

 

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