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Families can enjoy a unique sensory experience in the latest installation at The Word in South Shields.

Soundpit invites visitors to explore what sound and music 'feels' like, in an interactive installation featuring three sandpits, each with their own name, and special visual and sonic personality and character.

Through playing and touching the sand, children and adults can develop their own images, sounds and pieces of music.

The exhibition, by artist Di Mainstone, is set in darkness and was showcased at the Southbank Centre (the largest arts centre in the UK) in 2019.

Councillor Joan Atkinson, Deputy Leader of Â鶹ÊÓƵ with responsibility for Culture, Leisure and the Visitor Economy, said: "Soundpit has been very well received elsewhere in the country and we are delighted to be able to adapt the concept to fit our space at The Word.

"This fully immersive installation, with its unique use of sand, visuals, music and motion technology, offers visitors a chance to get creative and explore the art of music making by mixing different colours, sights and sounds.

"It is sure to provide a fun and unique experience for all ages and abilities particularly some of our SEND users as they enjoy engaging in sensory play and experimenting with the different sandpits."

The Word is bringing Soundpit to the northeast for the first time and coincides with a celebration of the Borough's coastal connection as part of the Year of the Coast 2023.

While Soundpit encourages exploration of music through touch, Hidden Histories, is a film showing in The Word's smaller exhibition pod, inviting audiences to explore objects that capture stories that may have been hidden over time.

Hidden Histories is based on a long-year project about the hidden treasure and histories from South Tyneside's Roman and Anglo-Saxon heritage and the museum collections at Jarrow Hall and Arbeia South Shields Roman Fort.

It captures the work of local artists Alizon Bennet and Rachel Eleanor Brook who have been engaging with community groups to inspire creativity, curiosity and enquiry and explore stories and ideas as part of the local heritage.

StoryWorld at The Word is also currently hosting the Involving Everyone photography exhibition, which shares the lives and experiences of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their families, living in the northeast. It aims to put them in the spotlight and give people a better understanding of what their lives are like.

The display, featuring the work of photographer Rachael Munro-Fawcett on a project involving Inclusion North, is funded by the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System and Arts Council England. It runs Monday to Thursdays from 4pm to 7pm, and on weekends from 10am to 4pm, until 18 December.

For further information about exhibitions and events at The Word visit Alternatively, follow on social media: Facebook @worduk Twitter @TheWord_UK