Memory Mandela Library
geneva's first mandela effect library
The Memory Mandela Library in Geneva is a one-of-a-kind cultural and research space dedicated to the exploration of collective memory and the Mandela Effect. Overlooking the beautiful shores of Lake Geneva, the library houses a growing collection of books, articles, interviews, and multimedia archives that document how people around the world experience shared yet differing memories. Designed as both a study center and a place of curiosity, the Memory Mandela Library welcomes researchers, students, and the public to reflect on how memory, perception, and storytelling shape our understanding of reality. Through exhibitions, talks, and interactive projects, the library invites visitors to question what they remember, and why.
The Memory Mandela Library's Story
The Memory Mandela Library was founded in 2018 on the tranquil shores of Lake Geneva, born from a simple yet powerful question: Why do so many people remember things that never happened?
It all began when a small group of researchers, librarians, and artists from Geneva’s academic and cultural circles came together after a local exhibition about collective false memories. Visitors to the event shared countless examples: movie lines that never existed, logos slightly different than remembered, and historical moments recalled with uncanny confidence yet contradicted by the record. Inspired by these conversations, the founders envisioned a place where such phenomena could be collected, studied, and shared.
The result was the creation of the Memory Mandela Library, a hybrid space between archive, museum, and laboratory of thought. Its mission is to preserve the stories behind misremembered truths and explore how individual and collective memory shape our perception of the past.
Since its opening, the library has hosted lectures, exhibitions, and collaborative research projects on topics ranging from the psychology of memory to the influence of media and culture on perception. Over time, it has become a hub for curious minds — a place where scientists meet storytellers, and where every misremembered detail becomes a clue in the study of how humans build reality together.
Today, the Memory Mandela Library continues to grow as a living archive of human recollection, reminding us that memory is not fixed, but fluid — and that sometimes, what we misremember tells us as much about ourselves as what we truly recall.
Mandela Effect
The Mandela Effect is the curious phenomenon where many people remember the same event differently. More informations here: