HBO Is Displaying the Unedited Diaries of Real Women at This Exhibit in NYC

HBO has long celebrated strong women in its programming, from Daenerys Targaryen to Issa Dee. Now, the network is celebrating Women’s History Month with a unique installation in New York City featuring the unedited diaries of real women. 

The Inspiration Room, built by Wieden + Kennedy New York, is located at 399 Lafayette St. and is free and open to the public. An impressive display of empowering experiential marketing, it’s open today through Sunday and serves as “a public archive of women’s journals spanning many generations, living and dead, to celebrate the power of authentic, unedited voices,” according to HBO. 

The diary entries were gathered via HBOInspirationRoom.com and with the help of media partners at The Wing, Bustle and theSkimm. The Great Diary Project at the Bishopsgate Institute in London also contributed dozens of entries. Some of the diary entries are from HBO talent, including Lena Dunham (Girls), Issa Rae (Insecure), Amanda Crew (Silicon Valley), Michelle MacLaren (director, Game of Thrones) and Lisa Joy (co-creator/executive producer/director, Westworld). 

The exhibit presents the diaries in lots of different forms, from various physical displays to audio recordings and more.

The diary entries focus on a range of women’s experiences, from the death of a spouse to the minefield of dating to depression, motherhood, surviving breast cancer and more. 

There will also be nightly live programming at the space, beginning Monday evening with a conversation between Padma Lakshmi and Soledad O’Brien on the topic of the power of women and their words. 

Other HBO talent filmed videos that bring some of the stories to life through dramatic readings—including Sarah Snook (Succession), Dominique Fishback (The Deuce), Natalie Gold (Succession), Margarita Levieva (The Deuce), Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Angela Sarafyan (Westworld) and Poorna Jagannathan (The Night Of, Big Little Lies). 

Here are the some those videos:

“HBO has a long history of bringing female characters to life in a way that is honest, relatable and often unexpected,” Dana Lichtenstein, director of consumer marketing, brand and product, at HBO said in a statement. “We hope that The Inspiration Room will be a place for women to tell their own authentic stories, and feel a larger sense of community around our shared experiences.”

“The Inspiration Room is a place filled with stories every bit as thriving and complex as the ones HBO puts on TV,” added Jaclyn Crowley, creative director at W+K New York. “The network has a rich history of strong female leads in its programming, and we want to put that kind of complexity front and center by giving women a platform—and space—to inspire other women.”

See more photos of the space below. 

W+K also made posters from some diary excerpts:

CREDITS 

HBO: “Inspiration Room”

Client: HBO
Project Name: The Inspiration Room
Format: Activation, Events, Film 
Client Contact: Jason Mulderig, Dana Lichtenstein
Launch Date: March 18, 2019
Duration: March 18-24

Agency: W+K New York
Executive Creative Director: Karl Lieberman
Creative Directors: Jaclyn Crowley, Sean Mclaughlin 
Copywriter: Michelle Lamont
Art Director: Rose Sacktor
Head Of Integrated Production: Nick Setounski
Executive Producer: Alison Hill
Associate Producer: Ava Rant
Production Assistant: Jane Lee
Account Director: Samantha Wagner 
Account Supervisor: Lee Ford
Brand Strategist: Brian Ritter
Social Strategist: Leah Greene
Project Manager: Lauren Aiello
Business Affairs Manager: Michael Moronez
Director Of Public Relations: Theresa Collins

Film Production Company: HBO
Director Of Production: Louis Tancredi 
Production Manager (NY): Sophia Trilling
Production Manager (LA): Alicia Alexander 

Film Production Director: Georgie Greville

Event Production Company: M Crown Productions 
Executive Producers: Jessica Hannan, Gala Magriñá
Programming Producer: Kate Mcdermott 
Scenics: Erector Sets

Design Studio: Studio Butch 
Creative Directors: David Brady, Chris Giovarelli
Designers: Emily Steen, Emily Mcalister, Peter Adels
Executive Producer: Denise Wild 

Editorial Company: Exile
Editor: Katie Turinski
Post Producer: Charlotte Delon
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld
Editorial Assistant: Ling Chua
Visual Effects Artist: Adam Greenberg