With such a diverse array of shows, exhibitions and activities happening around the Cultural Precinct, it can be overwhelming to decide what to do when you visit. To help make the task a little easier, the precinct’s four venues, QAGOMA, QPAC, Queensland Museum and the State Library of Queensland, have collaborated with the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland to create a new free smartphone app – Culturalist. Designed to enhance and extend the visitor experience, Culturalist will allow users to access aggregated ‘what’s on’ information from across all four venues for the first time. To give you a taste of the events on in the precinct, check out the Culturalist Series tab in our Events Guide.

Culturalist, however, is much more than a simple events guide. The app collates activities into searchable itineraries, or playlists, of experiences based on themes, locations, interests and more. The app features a range of pre-loaded playlists, such as free, indigenous, kids and staff picks, and users can curate playlists of their own to share with others. Culturalist also uses beacon technology, similar to that used in New York’s Guggenheim and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which allows the use of interactive maps within the app, and enables visitors to identify their location and navigate around the precinct. With approximately 280 beacons across the four venues, the Cultural Precinct becomes the first in Australia to implement beacon technology on such a large scale.

To celebrate the launch of Culturalist, The Weekend Edition is presenting the Culturalist Series. Over the next five weeks, we will take you on a journey through the Cultural Precinct, showcasing the itineraries and activities to be experienced throughout. You can download the free Culturalist app through the App Store and Google Play, which will also allow you to go into the draw to win $1000 in Cultural Precinct prizes through its social media competition – visit the Culturalist website for full details.

Image credit (left to right): Dinosaur fun at Queensland Museum; Bolshoi, Photography by Darren Thomas; galactic light by Kent Gration, Wambamboo, Asia Pacific Design Library, level 2, State Library of Queensland, Photo: courtesy Jeff Camden; Installation view of Yayoi Kusama’s The obliteration room 2015 / Collaboration between Yayoi Kusama and Queensland Art Gallery. Commissioned Queensland Art Gallery, Australia / Gift of the artist through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2012 / Photograph: Mark Sherwood / Image courtesy: QAGOMA