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A new walking tour App launched by The University of Western Australia invites visitors with smart phones or tablets to discover the treasures of its Crawley campus, widely regarded as the most beautiful campus in Australia.

To help celebrate its 100-year history, the UWA Centenary App is supported at each point of interest with background and insights provided by friends of UWA including: Chair of Australian Literature, Winthrop Professor Philip Mead; Sue Boyd, a former diplomat who, in 1969, was the first female to be elected president of the UWA student Guild; the UWA Historical Society's Joan Pope and Emeritus Professor and Honorary Senior Research Fellow Reg Appleyard AM.

There are two walking tours currently on offer for Apple iOS and Android users based on the 100 Treasures from UWA perpetual diary, which is available from UWA Publishing.

The first walk, The 100 Treasures - Landmark Highlights tour, guides you to some of the key building landmarks of the campus including its landmark Winthrop Hall which was, "the centre of all students' lives," Sue Boyd explains.

The new Shaun Tan-designed Hours to Sunset Sundial , the Sunken Garden and Shakespeare's Globe theatre-inspired New Fortune Theatre also feature in the Landmark Highlights walk.

The second walk, The100 Treasures - Art and Architecture walk, features 36 of the 100 Treasures highlighted for the University's 2013 Centenary celebrations.  In this tour you will see some of UWA's finest public art, installations, sculptures, murals and architecture.

Among chosen highlights, the walk includes; the history behind the 1932 Paul R Montford bust of Socrates, Napier Waller's 1931 mosaic depicting The Five Lamps of Knowledge and the University of Rome's 1962 gift to the newly completed Physics building, the striking bronze statue of Lysippus, Apoxyomenos, a male athlete scraping himself from oil and mud before bathing.

To make the best use of the UWA Centenary App you're advised to download the tours to your smart phone or tablet before setting off.  Once downloaded, the tours will work fully in offline mode.

Media references

Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 00 700 783